New Delhi, May 26 -- Private-asset stocks have been pummeled for making loans to fund buyouts, even though such lending, for most firms, has shrunk in importance. Sour sentiment on private credit has dragged down stocks like Blackstone and KKR this year by as much as a third, with the concerns centering on direct loans to companies owned by private equity.

That is why many asset managers spent their recent earnings calls explaining that leveraged buyout loans aren't the bulk of their businesses.

The press is fixated on the small slice of private credit that goes to buyouts, said Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan on his May 6 call. "Most of the financial press treats this as if it is the entire story of what's happening in private ...