Phil Tseng is departing his role as CEO of BlackRock TCP Capital Corp. the publicly traded business development company. The exit comes as the fund faces a 24 percent cumulative net asset value decline—19 percent in January, 5 percent in May—and a federal investigation into its valuation practices.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have questioned executives at the firm as part of their inquiry. Tseng, who joined BlackRock through its 2018 acquisition of Tennenbaum Capital Partners, remains an employee pending a final departure date.
The departure underscores deepening stress in private credit. The sector has absorbed major shocks: Cleveland-based First Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2025 after its founders concealed off-balance-sheet leverage. Subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings liquidated that same month. Federal prosecutors indicted Tricolor founder and CEO Daniel Chu and COO David Goodgame for systematically misleading lenders. Goodgame pleaded guilty in June to six counts of bank fraud and conspiracy and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Larry Fink, BlackRock's CEO, told analysts in April that institutional demand for private credit was accelerating and that the firm's internal data contradicted negative sector headlines. Yet redemptions from business development companies have surged. BlackRock TCP and competitors received $20.8 billion in redemption requests in the first quarter—so large that some exceeded the 5 percent cap enforced by BlackRock, Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Blackstone, Blue Owl Capital, and KKR.
Blue Owl co-president Craig Packer and other executives have characterized the Tricolor and First Brands collapses as isolated fraud cases. That narrative faces pressure from the data: redemptions reveal investor skepticism about valuation transparency across the sector. Goldman Sachs' private credit fund honored all second-quarter redemption requests at 3.2 percent, while Nuveen Churchill and Oaktree reported 3.1 to 4.5 percent withdrawals. The divergence suggests investors are differentiating funds by perceived risk—and punishing those with valuation questions.
