XAI Unveils INTVL-C, Bringing New Transparency to Alternative Credit

CHICAGO, IL – December 29, 2025 – XA Investments LLC (XAI), a Chicago-based firm specializing in alternative fund structures, has announced a significant step toward demystifying one of the fastest-growing corners of the investment world. The firm plans to launch the XAI Interval Fund Credit Index™ (INTVL-C) in the first quarter of 2026, creating the first dedicated benchmark for the burgeoning alternative credit interval fund market.

This new sub-index, part of XAI’s broader XAI Interval Fund Index™ (INTVL), is designed to track the performance of non-listed closed-end funds that focus on credit strategies. By providing a standardized performance metric, INTVL-C aims to bring unprecedented transparency to a segment that has, until now, operated without a tailored yardstick, making direct comparisons and risk assessments a challenge for investors and fund managers alike.

The Rise of Alternative Credit and the Interval Fund

The launch of INTVL-C comes as investor appetite for alternative credit strategies continues to surge. In a prolonged environment of low interest rates, traditional fixed-income assets have struggled to deliver the yields investors once expected. This has pushed both institutional and sophisticated retail investors toward alternative credit—a broad category of non-traditional lending that includes direct lending to companies, asset-backed lending, and structured credit products like Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs).

These strategies offer the potential for higher yields and diversification away from public stock and bond markets. However, the underlying assets are often illiquid and complex, making them unsuitable for traditional open-end mutual funds, which must provide daily liquidity to shareholders and are limited in their holdings of illiquid assets.

Enter the interval fund. This hybrid fund structure, registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, combines features of both mutual funds and closed-end funds. Like mutual funds, they continuously offer new shares at their daily net asset value (NAV). But critically, they do not trade on an exchange and only offer to repurchase a limited portion of their shares—typically 5% to 25%—at predetermined intervals, usually quarterly. This limited liquidity model allows fund managers to invest in less liquid, long-term assets like private credit without the pressure of daily redemption requests, unlocking these strategies for a wider investor base.

The structure has proven immensely popular, with the interval and tender offer fund market growing to over $200 billion in managed assets in 2024, fueled by investors seeking access to private market returns with lower minimum investments and simpler tax reporting than traditional private equity vehicles.

A New Benchmark for an Opaque Market

Despite this rapid growth, the alternative credit interval fund space has lacked a crucial piece of market infrastructure: a dedicated, comprehensive benchmark. Without one, fund managers have struggled to measure their performance against a relevant peer group, and investors have found it difficult to conduct effective due diligence and compare funds with similar strategies.

XAI’s INTVL-C is designed to fill this void. The index will track a universe of 54 credit-focused interval and tender offer funds, providing a concentrated look at the market's primary performance drivers. It is calculated on a total return basis, factoring in the reinvestment of distributions, which provides a more accurate picture of an investor's actual return.

“INTVL-C is instrumental in helping fund managers benchmark credit interval funds against a universe of similar peers,” stated Kimberly Flynn, President of XA Investments, in the company's announcement. “Calculated on a total return basis, the sub-index provides fund managers a direct way to compare their funds against the most comprehensive interval fund credit index of over 50 credit interval and tender offer funds.”

The index's methodology, which includes daily calculations and quarterly rebalancing, is managed by index calculation agent Indxx, Inc. It is designed to ensure fair performance comparisons among funds with similar investment profiles, supporting more meaningful evaluation and informed decision-making.

The Ripple Effect on Investors and Asset Managers

The introduction of a standardized benchmark is poised to have a significant ripple effect across the industry. For asset managers, INTVL-C provides a clear performance target. This is likely to spur product innovation as firms develop new funds designed to track or outperform the index. It will also increase competitive pressure, potentially leading to better performance and more competitive fee structures as transparency makes it easier to identify top-performing managers.

For investors and financial advisors, the index is a powerful new tool for portfolio construction and due diligence. It offers a reliable reference point for evaluating risk and return, helping them understand how a particular fund fits within a broader allocation to alternative credit. The credibility of the index is bolstered by its constituents, which represent a who's who of alternative asset management. The top 10 constituents include funds managed by industry titans such as Cliffwater, CION, Carlyle, PIMCO, Apollo, and Lord Abbett—firms with deep expertise and established track records in private credit markets.

By reducing information asymmetry, the INTVL-C could significantly boost investor confidence, potentially accelerating capital flows into the alternative credit interval fund segment. Institutional investors, who often require benchmarks for performance evaluation and manager selection, may now find the asset class more accessible for their mandates.

XAI's Strategic Play in a Growing Niche

The launch of INTVL-C is more than just a new product; it is a strategic move by XA Investments to solidify its position as a thought leader and key infrastructure provider in the alternative investment ecosystem. Founded in 2016 by XMS Capital Partners, XAI has focused intently on the registered closed-end fund space, offering advisory, structuring, and consulting services in addition to managing its own funds.

By developing specialized tools like the INTVL index suite, the firm not only addresses a clear market need but also enhances its own analytical capabilities, which directly supports its consulting and advisory businesses. Creating the first sub-index for credit—one of the largest and fastest-growing segments of the interval fund market—positions XAI at the center of the industry's evolution.

This move signals a clear roadmap for further specialization, with the potential for future sub-indexes tracking other alternative asset classes like real estate or private equity within the interval fund structure. As the alternative investment landscape continues to mature and attract a broader audience, the demand for sophisticated data and analytics will only grow. With the launch of INTVL-C, XA Investments is not just tracking the market; it is actively helping to shape its future.