BDC Troubles, 2025
".....Wall Street fund managers want 401(k) plans to include private credit, but similar products they have already sold to individual investors are in sharp decline this year.
Some of the same money managers leading the charge to “democratize” private markets—like KKR and BlackRock—are among the worst performers in the publicly traded private-credit funds called business development companies.
Business development companies, or BDCs, typically make high-interest loans to midsize corporations with junk credit ratings, using income from the loans to pay big dividends to their investors. They have become a popular way for fund managers to draw mom-and-pop investors into the booming private-credit industry. Demand for BDCs surged and the cash they manage has more than tripled since 2020 to about $450 billion, according to the law firm Mayer Brown.....
The BDC selloff began this summer, after falling interest rates reduced income from the loans they own. Then, a $14 billion fund managed by KKR reported heavy losses from loans gone wrong, and a rash of alleged frauds in companies such as the auto supplier First Brands spooked investors. JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, who has a love-hate relationship with private credit, warned about more credit “cockroaches” lurking.....

....."
WSJ https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/the-private-credit-party-turns-ugly-for-individual-investors-287356f9
Open at MSN https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/the-private-credit-party-turns-ugly-for-individual-investors/ar-AA1SLq0A

Just watched full video.
- Ed's been in the investment business 40 years. (I've been investing for longer - over 55 years - but won't hold that against him.)
- Ed draws many parallels between today's markets and the 1920s.
- Importantly, many have predicted a recession during this decade but none has occurred, nor does he see one coming.
- In the 1920s there were no recessions until the end of decade.
- His biggest regret is not having poured 100% of his money into the NASDAQ and shut his eyes decades ago.
- He sees the prolonged rapid rise in the equity markets as similar to the 1920s and highly stimulative. Should that upward momentum go into reverse, he concedes it could trigger a recession.
- He notes friends and relatives are taking expensive cruises and inviting him along. He declines because he gets seasick easily. However, these friends' stock portfolios are growing faster than they can spend them down.
- He sees even 4% on money market funds as stimulative. Savers are being rewarded much more now than 5-10 years ago when rates were near zero and then spend the extra money.
- He makes brief reference to the resumption of QE (bond buying) by the Fed, characterizing it as creating "instant money" out of thin air.
- He focuses on dramatic increases in productivity. In tech he remembers having to load data into computers by manually punching holes in cards.
- He sees the Fed as having the back of investors. They learned their lesson in '07-'09 and now know how to prevent such disasters.
- He mentions Trump's talk about sending out tariff rebate checks and appears to think such talk alone is stimulative; it's also emblematic of the degree to which the Administration will go to spur growth.
- Overall, Ed sounds like a raging bull. He "can see" the S&P 500 at 10,000 by decade end.
- However, his crystal ball appears clear at best only out to about a year. He often hedges by saying, "I'm assuming" ... I'm assuming ..."
Thanks for linking these interviews @bee / Mack attracts some excellent guests. (It should go without saying that I don't necessarily agree with Ed Yardeni.)

This article from M* seems to paint a different picture. I don't see the article discriminating between retail and institutional investors.

Consistent with the past several months, flows favored taxable bonds, especially lower-risk areas within it, as well as international stocks over US equities. That said, US equity funds broke a six-month streak of outflows, tech sector funds posted their first outflows since April, and crypto assets lost some allure.

snip\

Taxable-bond funds continued to rake in assets in November, with 22 of 27 categories gathering assets amid a rate-cutting cycle. Their $51 billion of inflows marked a seventh straight month of inflows above $50 billion. In the past three years, total net assets in taxable-bond funds increased 38%.

snip\

US equity funds gathered a scant $3.4 billion in November, good enough to reverse a six-month streak of outflows.

Microsoft and Three Mile Island. "What can go wrong?"
Admittedly, that's a somewhat cheap shot based on reputation.

Personalized [variable] pricing isn’t new. We already pay different prices for many things—airline tickets, home insurance, groceries—based on our consumer data or ability to haggle in real life (in the case of a car, for instance).

These days, anything that's automated is slapped with an "AI" label.
Just yesterday I got into one of those "newfangled" (read: decades old) elevators where you press your destination floor button on the outside and an elevator comes that only opens on the desired floors. No buttons inside. And I'm thinking - another place where "AI" has replaced human beings - no more elevator operators. AI, yeah right.

As computers have gotten faster and memory dirt cheap they've been able to customize down to the individual buyer or individual trade level. That alone doesn't make it AI.

The computing is powerful enough—thanks largely to Nvidia’s chips—that AI can blend our data with the dynamics of a marketplace, tailoring prices to individuals or groups more narrowly.

New York is now at the forefront of regulatory efforts. Its new law, which took effect in November, requires companies to disclose to consumers if they’re using “algorithmic pricing,” allowing companies to charge “some consumers more than others depending on factors like their location, income, and previous shopping habits,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James in a statement.
Yet variable pricing isn’t illegal, and how New York will enforce the statute isn’t clear.

It's the data that matters. Problems arise when the data is used unfairly or illegally. Consider insurance rates based on credit ratings. Not fair and often not useful. Using location has the stench of redlining.
Then there's downright illegal use of data. RealPage just reached a settlement with DOJ for "offering software that uses nonpublic, 'competitively sensitive' data shared among landlords to recommend how much to charge tenants". This use of insider info enabled landlords to "boost prices in apartment buildings [above market rates] in ways that could violate antitrust laws."
https://www.propublica.org/article/doj-realpage-settlement-rental-price-fixing-case

A decent overview and rewind of some events since 2000..........that Y2K year, eh? AND the here and now; and what is around the corner.
Video program, December 19, 2025, 56 minutes.

Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/energy-transfer-suspends-development-its-lake-charles-lng-export-project-2025-12-18/

@Derf. “ I believe ‘25 interest will be less.” Me too. So it’s take more risk or accept less interest income. Lucky for us our home and auto insurance, Medicare Part B premiums and heating bills have all gone down. And “groceries “ are cheaper too. So maybe it’s a push.

With $6K income deduction this year & having paid a (bit) more tax in '25 than ' 24, CG's should be okay. Plus I believe '25 interest will be less

Right, good point on the style box. I have many portfolios built. Such as, "Cash/cash equivalents", "All Fixed Income", "Individual stocks' and a "Total Portfolio" that encompasses everything, except life insurance cash value (minimal), home equity, pension lump sum, and such miscellanea. This allows me to benchmark appropriately, mainly for individual equities and Roths, etc.
The "Total Portfolio" view is down to 1% for each: small value, core and growth. Mid is 6/9/5 for value/core/growth. 3 years ago, these were much higher weightings.
I am good with these allocations. As far as large caps go, I used to have a very large weighting towards "growth". That was pared back in the last 18 months, with more emphasis on value and core. Large core being the highest weighting now. Value and growth about equal.

Reminiscent of HFT computers colocating with trading floor systems. Though that's done for a speed advantage, not to save on data transmission costs.
https://www.binance.com/en/academy/glossary/colocation
While I would like heavy consumers of electricity to bear a good portion of the distribution infrastructure costs, there's something to be said for not paying for something you don't use. If you go down to the reservoir for water (and pay for that water, including filtering and other treatments), should you have to pay for the water mains that deliver water to other customers?
As I see it, the bigger problem is that the data centers stress the power generation system. Increasing capacity is expensive. This is why power companies offer time-of-day rates - they shift demand from peak hours thereby reducing the peak capacity needed. And why the data centers should pay a much higher rate for their electricity than do retail or even most commercial customers.

The reference (I'd say homage) to Johnny Quest can be found at 19:50-20:00 in this episode:
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8j53ug

Man, you cannot even give these people money! No matter, It amounts to small potatoes.
Also small potatoes, but something I've been doing for the past several years is paying by credit card. As the third party fees have come down (now 1.75% and 1.85%) if you pay by credit card (e.g. Fidelity 2% cash back) it's not hard to come out a french fry or two ahead.
https://www.irs.gov/payments/pay-your-taxes-by-debit-or-credit-card
This has the added bonus of getting a float for up to two months (if you make a payment early in your billing cycle). Note that payments are posted as of the day you make them - you can't schedule them for future dates.
If you have Chase Freedom Card, it's currently (for December) giving 5% cash back on Paypal transactions and you can use Paypal to make estimated payments. Though Chase limits the amount of cash back. Still, with 5% back (less 1.75% fee), we're past small potatoes, all the way up to russets.

Thanks @msf. Great reminder to those of us who may have large capital gain in 2025. I have increased my withholding this year to meet close to 100% of the tax. Years ago we received large capital gains and we have to pay penalty due to underpaid amount. Since then we switched to index funds. Other tgan dividends, no more surprising capital gains.

@sma3
This is also a great reminder, as I had forgotten that.
The IRS website said it was acceptable to modify (increase/decrease), I entered all of the data, using my confirmation number. Then it said that the pre-filled (and previous) payment date was not acceptable (01-15-2026) and all other dates from now to the end of 2026 were greyed out. lol
Man, you cannot even give these people money! No matter, It amounts to small potatoes.

Datacenters are in the news. They are power hogs and regulated and unregulated utilities are struggling to keep up with the demand.
A hot issue has been whether datacenters have to connect to the grid, like all others, or can get preferential treatment for connecting to the powerplants directly (i.e. pre-grid).
FERC has ruled for the latter - i.e. datacenters can connect to powerplants directly. They can pay nominal fees to grids, but not their regular overhead or rates. Consumer electricity rates may go up as a result.
https://apnews.com/article/power-electricity-ai-power-plants-data-centers-grid-6f52e60c4924f634a21fb5f35d68f29b

So, all the previous commitment amounts to buried, wasted, sunk costs?
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251218689373/en/Energy-Transfer-Announces-Suspension-of-Development-of-Lake-Charles-LNG
https://www.energytransfer.com/

The name rings a very faint bell. Don't know why.
I'd never seen a fund with a M* risk score over 100 (i.e. beyond awful) until now. And bottom quintile 5 and 10 year returns. How did it possibly manage a +0.31 Sharpe ratio over 5 and 10 years?
With just $90M AUM, merging it into an existing, parallel (and just as small) ETF looks like a last gasp effort at gathering assets. Why not just shut down a fund this small, with a 1* rating, a negative (AI generated) M* medalist grade, Lipper ratings of 1 (out of 5) in total return, consistent return, and preservation?
Perhaps it would be better to just throw in the towel. (You knew that was coming :-))

Yes, the linked source notes that exact amounts vary by source.
I was a bit surprised when I looked up 3 of the 10 BARF basket holdings. Larger then I'd assumed. All 3 are considered large cap - but at the lower end of the range.
AJG $65 Bil
HEINY $45.5 Bil
TROW $22.7 Bil
In contrast, NWL is but $1.6 Bil and I believe the others are more along that line..

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1643838/000139834425022656/fp0096699-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0096699-1_497.htm
IDX Risk-Managed Digital Assets Strategy Fund
(Formerly, IDX Risk-Managed Bitcoin Strategy Fund)
Institutional Class Shares (Ticker Symbol: BTIDX)
A series of
Trailmark Series Trust (Formerly, IDX Funds)
December 18, 2025
Supplement to the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”),
dated April 30, 2025, as previously supplemented
The Board of Trustees of Trailmark Series Trust (the “Board”) has concluded that it is in the best interests of IDX Risk-Managed Digital Assets Strategy Fund (the “Fund”) and its shareholders that the Fund cease operations. The Board has determined to close the Fund and redeem all outstanding shares on or about January 18, 2026 (“Redemption Date”).
Effective immediately, the Fund will not accept any new investments, will no longer pursue its stated investment objective, and will begin liquidating its portfolio and will invest in cash equivalents such as money market funds until all shares have been redeemed. Any required distributions of income and capital gains will be distributed as soon as practicable to shareholders and reinvested in additional shares, unless you have previously requested payment in cash.
Prior to or on the Redemption Date, you may redeem your shares, including reinvested distributions, in accordance with the “Redeeming Shares” section in the Prospectus. Unless your investment in the Fund is through a tax-deferred retirement account, a redemption is subject to tax on any taxable gains. Please refer to the “Other Information section in the Prospectus for general information. You may wish to consult your tax advisor about your particular situation.
ANY SHAREHOLDERS WHO HAVE NOT REDEEMED THEIR SHARES OF THE FUND PRIOR TO THE REDEMPTION DATE WILL HAVE THEIR SHARES AUTOMATICALLY REDEEMED AS OF THAT DATE, AND PROCEEDS WILL BE SENT TO THE ADDRESS OF RECORD. If you have questions or need assistance, please contact your financial advisor directly or the Fund at 216-329-4271.
* * * * * * *
You should read this Supplement, in conjunction with the Prospectus and SAI, dated April 30, 2025, as previously supplemented, each may be amended from time to time, because they provide information you should know about the Fund before investing in it. These documents are available upon request and without charge by calling the Fund at 216-329-4271.
PLEASE RETAIN THIS SUPPLEMENT FOR FURTHER REFERENCE

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318342/000139834425022672/fp0096687-1_497.htm
497 1 fp0096687-1_497.htm
Towle Value Fund
(Ticker Symbol: TDVFX)
A series of Investment Managers Series Trust (the “Trust”)
Supplement dated December 18, 2025 to the currently effective
Summary Prospectus, Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information.
*** Important Notice Regarding Proposed Fund Reorganization ***
The Board of Trustees of Investment Managers Series Trust has approved an Agreement and Plan of Reorganization (the “Plan”) for the Towle Value Fund (the “Acquired Fund”), a series of the Trust, providing for the reorganization of the Acquired Fund into the Towle Value ETF (the “Acquiring Fund”), a series of EA Series Trust (“EA”). The Board of Trustees of EA has also approved the Plan. The reorganization of the Acquired Fund is subject to approval by its shareholders.
The Acquiring Fund has the same investment objective and substantially similar investment strategies as the Acquired Fund. Towle & Co. (“Towle”) serves as investment adviser to the Acquired Fund and investment sub-adviser to the Acquiring Fund. Empowered Funds, LLC (dba EA Advisers) serves as investment adviser to the Acquiring Fund. The Acquiring Fund has the same portfolio management team as the Acquired Fund.
The Plan provides for the Acquired Fund to transfer all of its assets to the Acquiring Fund in return for shares of the Acquiring Fund and cash in lieu of fractional Acquiring Fund shares (if any), and the Acquiring Fund’s assumption of the Acquired Fund’s liabilities. Shareholders of the Acquired Fund will receive shares of the Acquiring Fund and cash in lieu of fractional Acquiring Fund shares (if any) equal in value to the shares of the Acquired Fund held by the shareholders prior to the reorganization. The reorganization is not expected to result in the recognition of gain or loss by the Acquired Fund or its shareholders for federal tax purposes (except with respect to cash received by shareholders in lieu of fractional shares, if any). Towle will bear the costs related to the reorganization.
The Acquired Fund operates as a mutual fund and the Acquiring Fund operates as an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). ETFs may provide benefits to shareholders compared to mutual funds, including additional trading flexibility, increased transparency, and the potential for lower transaction costs and enhanced tax efficiency. Additional information regarding the differences between mutual funds and ETFs and potential impact to shareholders will be included in the prospectus/proxy statement noted below. In order to receive shares of the Acquiring Fund as part of the reorganization, Acquired Fund shareholders must hold their shares of the Acquired Fund through a brokerage account eligible to hold and trade shares of an ETF. Shareholders holding their Acquired Fund shares through accounts that are not eligible to hold shares of an ETF will not participate in the reorganization and will instead receive a cash distribution equal to the net asset value of their Acquired Fund shares in full redemption of their Acquired Fund shares. Such cash distribution may result in the recognition of gain or loss for federal tax purposes. If you are unsure about the ability of your account to accept Acquiring Fund shares, please call 1-888-99TOWLE (1-888-998-6953) or contact your financial advisor or other financial intermediary.
The Trust will call a shareholder meeting at which shareholders of the Acquired Fund will be asked to consider and vote on the Plan. If the required shareholder approval for the reorganization of the Acquired Fund is obtained, the reorganization of the Acquired Fund is currently expected to take effect in the first quarter of 2026.
Shareholders of the Acquired Fund will receive a combined prospectus/proxy statement with additional information about the shareholder meeting, the proposed reorganization, and the Acquiring Fund. Please read the proxy materials carefully, as they will contain a more detailed description of the proposed reorganization.
Please file this Supplement with your records.