Apollo Global Management's John Zito warned that private credit turmoil could persist for another 12 to 18 months, speaking at the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York. The co-president of Apollo's asset management arm said the current market challenges have surprised him, particularly the isolation of private credit from other market segments.

Zito downplayed concerns about withdrawals from business development companies, arguing that managers are simply meeting client needs. He pushed back against recent UBS predictions of a 15% default rate in private credit, calling the forecast a "severe bear case" taken out of context. The report had been previously criticized by Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti.

Zito suggested investors can protect themselves through diversification and positioning themselves senior in the capital structure. He argued that if private credit markets experienced a 15% default rate, public markets would likely face similar stress. Apollo CEO Marc Rowan had earlier warned of a shakeout in the $1.8 trillion private credit industry as it grapples with redemptions and rising defaults on software company loans.