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"Quiet work compounds — even when no one is watching."

That is what I kept reminding myself during Sunday’s sprint triathlon. In spite of a snafu with my tracker, I was genuinely proud of the outcome: 7th in my age group, well beyond what I had expected considering my only goal was to finish in the top half.

The experience taught me something powerful about progress. It rarely announces itself in real time. It is built through discipline, repetition, and systems that work even when you do not see them working.

That mindset carried into this week’s story. In fintech, the companies that endure are not always the loudest. They are the ones building quietly — laying foundations that compound over time.

This week, I explore Percent, and the overlooked infrastructure powering the next generation of retirement investing. Like training, private credit’s rise has been steady and methodical, built on invisible systems of trust, transparency, and technology that are only now coming into view.

Most investors still think of private credit as an obscure, high-risk corner of finance. But behind the scenes, Percent is quietly rewriting the playbook, turning private credit into the infrastructure of a new retirement era.

Over the past few years, Percent has evolved from a niche originator platform into a full-stack marketplace that standardizes how private debt is issued, priced, and monitored. Its real innovation is not yield; it is infrastructure, digitizing every stage of the transaction so investors can access, assess, and manage private credit with institutional-grade visibility.

As Nelson Chu, founder and president of Percent, puts it:

“Private credit shouldn’t be a black box. We’ve built the rails that make this market as transparent and data-driven as any public exchange.”

Here are five takeaways from Percent’s evolution and what they mean for the future of retirement portfolios

1️⃣ Private credit is becoming infrastructure, not an asset class.

Percent is creating the foundational technology that allows private markets to operate with consistency and scale. What once required manual underwriting and bilateral relationships now happens through standardized data models and automated workflows. This shift reframes private credit as a core component of market infrastructure rather than a niche investment product. By abstracting away the operational complexity, Percent is enabling institutions and individuals to treat private credit as a system, not a specialty.

2️⃣ Transparency is the unlock.

Trust is the currency of financial markets, and for decades private credit has lacked it. Percent is changing that dynamic by providing live order books, standardized deal terms, and post-close performance data that investors can monitor in real time. These features give investors a level of visibility once limited to public markets. The more transparency the ecosystem provides, the faster capital can move and the more confidence participants can build.

3️⃣ Retirement products are next.

The $13 trillion U.S. 401(k) market is slowly opening to alternative assets, and the timing could not be better. Percent’s model shortens investment durations, lowers minimums, and provides clear performance data, all of which align with fiduciary standards required for retirement products. If successful, this approach could redefine how workers diversify beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio. The mutual fund did this for equities, and private credit infrastructure could now do it for the next generation of retirement portfolios.

4️⃣ Global infrastructure is converging.

In Europe, companies such as Exaloan are building similar data rails for banks and asset managers, proving that the demand for transparency is global. These systems are beginning to speak the same language, making it easier for institutions to allocate capital across borders without losing visibility. The convergence of these standards is essential for scaling private markets responsibly. Percent’s model in the U.S. and Exaloan’s in Europe together signal a broader shift toward synchronized, technology-driven transparency.

5️⃣ The technology layer matters most.

Percent’s machine-learning engine analyzes thousands of loans to identify compliance issues, benchmark returns, and flag anomalies before they escalate into losses. This capability is what makes private markets auditable, measurable, and trustworthy. It is not the type of AI that generates headlines, but it is the kind that redefines market integrity. The companies that build this layer will quietly determine how modern portfolios are constructed.

The takeaway is clear. Private markets are no longer an alternative; they are becoming essential. Percent is not selling investment products, it is building the digital infrastructure that could power the next generation of retirement portfolios.

💬 Coming Up: Nelson Chu joins this week’s 5 Questions With series to share how Percent is bringing transparency to private markets and what it will take to make private credit a core part of retirement portfolios. The full interview is available for paid subscribers only—upgrade today to read the complete conversation.

Why they matter: Exaloan is a Frankfurt-based fintech building the data infrastructure that allows banks and asset managers to evaluate and monitor private debt portfolios with institutional-grade transparency. I met the founder, Luca, in Frankfurt and was impressed by how leanly they have built the company—operating without institutional funding and already processing more than $290m EUR in fundable loan origination volume and scoring more than 32,000 loans in real time. Their disciplined approach and technical precision reflect the kind of focus that defines enduring fintech infrastructure.

The opportunity: Exaloan is quietly becoming the connective tissue between originators and investors in Europe’s private credit ecosystem, a market that now exceeds €2 trillion in assets under management. By digitizing due diligence and standardizing reporting, the company is building the rails for institutional capital to flow more efficiently into private markets. This data-driven infrastructure positions Exaloan to become a foundational player in Europe’s evolving alternative credit landscape.

Why they matter: Armand, the founder of Redii, is building a global savings infrastructure that allows distributed teams to manage long-term savings and retirement benefits across currencies and jurisdictions. I have known Armand for more than a decade and could not be more excited about what he is building. After seeing firsthand the cracks in pension systems like Australia’s, it is clear that strong mandates do not always translate to strong outcomes. Redii’s model challenges that complacency by creating a more transparent, performance-driven framework for global retirement savings.

The opportunity: The global pensions and workplace savings market represents more than $60 trillion in assets, yet the systems that govern it were not designed for remote and cross-border work. Redii is positioned to capture a growing share of the $1.5 trillion in annual cross-border payroll and benefits flows by offering employers a unified, portable savings infrastructure. Its model bridges fintech and HR tech, creating the connective layer for a workforce that is increasingly global, mobile, and digital-first.

If you would like to connect directly with founders building the next wave of best-in-class fintech and retirement infrastructure startups, email me for my exclusive founder directory and gain early access to introductions and insights from across the Bear and the Bull network.

🎧 I’m thrilled to share my first Spanish-language episode of Money Memories with Ximena Alemán, founder of Prometeo, kicking off the new Multilingual Money Memories series. We talked about open banking, building across Latin America, and what it means to bridge financial ecosystems globally.
👉 Listen on NPR, Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts

🖊️I published new Forbes piece featuring Nelson Chu, founder of Percent, on how the company is reshaping private credit access. An exclusive 5 Questions interview for paid subscribers will be released on Wednesday - upgrade to a paid subscription to get exclusive access.

I am especially excited to be working on the Culture & Capital event in Los Angeles and the PropTech in Austin session—both are shaping up to be excellent gatherings of founders, investors, and ecosystem builders. Mark your calendars.

I am currently looking for event sponsors (around $500 each) to support these conversations. If you are based in Austin or LA and interested in learning more, reply to this email and I will share details.

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Till next week,
Ilona

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