When the Music Stops in Private Markets | Protect the Pile Episode 17 w/ Leyla Kunimoto

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00:00 - Welcome to Protect the Pile
01:18 - Market Setup: S&P, Rates, Dollar and Credit Spreads
02:02 - Leyla Kunimoto’s Background and Accredited Investor Insights
04:38 - RPK’s Top 5 Market Notes
08:26 - Redemption Gates and “Semi-Liquid” Funds
12:01 - David Salem on the Yale Model vs. Democratized Alternatives
20:17 - The Problem With Retail Access to Private Equity
26:16 - Evergreen Funds, Secondaries and Liquidity Mismatch
32:24 - Valuation Markups and Day-One Gains
39:46 - Why IRR Can Mislead Investors
47:19 - How Private Market Stress Could Play Out
49:31 - Private Credit vs. Private Equity: Where Is the Bigger Risk

This week on Protect the Pile, HAM Portfolio Managers R. Patrick Kent, David Salem and Sam Rahman dig into the growing risks and complexities inside private markets with special guest Leyla Kunimoto, founder and chief editor of Accredited Investor Insights.

The discussion examines how private equity and private credit products have evolved from institutional, long-lockup vehicles into “semi-liquid” evergreen funds increasingly aimed at retail investors. The group breaks down redemption caps, liquidity mismatches, secondary transactions, valuation markups, IRR reporting, and why “democratized access” may come with tradeoffs investors do not fully see.

They also debate whether private credit or private equity poses the bigger risk, how fund structures can obscure price discovery, and what happens when the music stops in a $15 trillion private markets ecosystem.

About Leyla Kunimoto:

Leyla Kunimoto is the founder and chief editor of Accredited Investor Insights, an independent newsletter focused on private markets from the limited partner perspective. With a background in finance and more than two decades of experience investing in public markets, she began researching private markets after expanding into real estate, private credit, and private equity in 2020.

Frustrated by the lack of independent, investor-focused resources on alternative investments, Leyla launched Accredited Investor Insights in 2024 to examine the structures, valuations, mechanics, and fine print that often receive too little scrutiny. Her work covers private equity, private credit, and real estate, with a focus on how returns are calculated, reported, and understood by end investors.

Accredited Investor Insights is read by major asset managers, ratings agencies, and financial publications. Leyla has been quoted in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and other leading outlets.

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