These 2 Semiliquid Funds Are the First to Earn a Gold Medalist Rating from Morningstar

October marked the first fund initiated with a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold, and the first set of coverage initiations under the enhanced Medalist Rating methodology for semiliquid funds, which launched on Oct. 16.

The time was right for Morningstar’s first Gold-rated semiliquid fund. Switching to Semiliquid Cost Estimate data gave us more precise Price scores, and drawing from over a year of experience rating semiliquid funds afforded us the confidence to wield our highest-conviction rating.

The newly rated fund wasn’t alone. Its sister fund’s People Pillar upgrade to High laid the groundwork for both to be the first Gold ratings for semiliquid funds.

The First Semiliquid Funds to Receive Gold

Pimco California Flexible Municipal Income’s institutional share class CAFLX captured the first-ever Gold rating for a newly initiated semiliquid fund. Morningstar analysts tend to be more conservative when initially covering a fund, taking time to learn the strategy and team managing it with a live track record before issuing High Process or People ratings. That wasn’t the case for this fund, whose sister fund Pimco Flexible Municipal Income PMFLX was already under coverage and run by a team whose muni mutual funds have long been rated by Morningstar. Both funds represent the first-ever Gold medalist ratings issued by Morningstar for semiliquid funds.

Alec Lucas, director of fixed income strategies at Morningstar, upgraded Pimco Flexible Municipal Income’s People Pillar rating to High from Above Average and gave the California-specific version of the strategy the same pillar ratings.

Excellent leadership, a talented supporting cast, and impressive capabilities have been evident here for several years now, but heightened personnel turnover, especially between 2022 and 2023, had been a concern. With that turnover abating to more typical levels, the team’s overall strengths merit a High People Pillar.

California investors have access to one of the best muni-bond strategies in Pimco California Flexible Municipal Income, so long as they can stomach its risky approach to munis and the withdrawal limitations of the interval fund structure. The strategy has averaged 19% financial leverage and 27% high-yield exposure since its 2022 inception. Those features are better suited to an interval fund structure than to daily liquid vehicles, so the vehicle matches the strategy, but they still add risk. While semiliquid funds only provide limited, periodic opportunities to cash out of their holdings, Pimco raises the typical 5% quarterly repurchase limit to 10%. Investors can liquidate more easily here than in other semiliquid funds, but there’s no guarantee they will get their money back when they ask for it.

Solid Funds With Promising Features

A few funds received Above Average ratings for their People or Process Pillars. Apollo Debt Solutions BDC earned Above Average ratings on both, joining Blackstone Private Credit and HPS Corporate Lending in the upper echelon of nontraded BDCs with Above Average ratings for those pillars. Likewise, Hamilton Lane’s Private Assets and Private Secondary stood out for their capable portfolio management team and supporting resources.

Apollo Debt Solutions BDC

“Apollo has designed this portfolio with a strong emphasis on resilience in the face of market turbulence. For example, the team prefers lending to larger companies at the higher end of the middle-market borrowing universe or higher, arguing that larger businesses are more likely to survive an extended drought. They have also thus far kept a lid on riskier assets, such as annual recurring revenue loans and loans paying their interest by issuing additional debt rather than cash (called payment-in-kind). They have also limited software exposure to 10.7% of assets as of June 2026, half the typical 20.0% weight that software commands in many private credit portfolios…

Apollo’s scale provides it with advantages in sourcing and market access, lowers its cost of borrowing for portfolio leverage, and has allowed it to build an impressive set of capabilities in trading, allocation, and risk management. This strategy earns an Above Average Process rating…

The fund’s experienced managers are backed by Apollo’s expansive investment teams and supporting resources. It earns an Above Average People rating.”–Brian Moriarty, Principal

Hamilton Lane Private Assets and Private Secondary

“The team backing this strategy is plenty experienced and has a long history of working together. The named portfolio managers effectively represent the senior leaders of Hamilton Lane, some of whom oversee the investment platforms that feed this strategy. The firm has managed discretionary client assets for more than two decades, and its semiliquid funds date back to 2019, so relative to many peers, it is more experienced in the space…

Hamilton Lane utilizes a reasonable, diversified approach to private equity investing, though it is not yet clear whether the team has an edge versus peers, earning it an Average Process rating…

This strategy is overseen by an experienced, well-resourced team of investors, earning it an Above Average People rating.”–Jack Shannon, Principal

Semiliquid Strategies With More to Prove

Of the eight new ratings, the remaining four strategies received Average Process and People Pillar ratings. The rationale behind these ratings differed by fund, though newer strategies tend to fall here while building out their portfolio and developing a track record.

Calamos Aksia Private Equity and Alternatives CAPVX

“This strategy is the first semiliquid private equity offering from the duo of liquid alts shop Calamos Investments and alternative advisory and investment firm Aksia. Originally launched as a private vehicle in September 2024, it converted to an interval fund structure at the start of July 2025, offering investors a diverse mix of private equity exposures. Aksia handles the private equity investing, while Calamos handles the operations, distribution, and liquidity management. While Calamos has a long history running pooled fund products, this is Aksia’s first such undertaking in the private equity space…

The strategy’s framework is reasonable, but its differentiation from competing strategies is unclear. It earns an Average Process rating…

This fund’s team is qualified but smaller and less experienced than better-resourced rivals, earning an Average People rating.”—Adam Sabban, Associate Director

Federated Hermes Project and Trade Finance XPTFX

“[This strategy is] the only semiliquid fund that currently gives investors access to a large market made up mainly of trade finance loans. These short-term instruments finance cross-border trade in goods, bridging the gap between when exporters ship and when importers pay. Estimates of the market’s size vary, but the volume of trade finance provided each year is typically put somewhere between USD 5 trillion and USD 10 trillion. The risks it courts are mainly idiosyncratic and are not highly correlated with traditional asset classes. That includes emerging markets, between which many of these deals are struck, exposing investors to political, currency, commodity, and interest rate risks. As such, Federated Hermes should be applauded for putting such a diversifier within reach of individual investors…

The fund’s process earns an Average rating, driven primarily by our inability to clearly distinguish between alpha (excess return over the implied market return) and beta (just exposure to the market as such)…

The team is competent, but its small size relative to the strategy’s markets earns it an Average People rating.”—Maciej Kowara, Principal

Fidelity Private Credit

“There are reasons to be optimistic about Fidelity Private Credit’s long-term prospects, chief among them the strategy’s rigorous credit underwriting standards and the platform’s ability to grow at a responsible pace. There are also factors that call for patience, though, as the firm’s direct lending unit has only just passed its five-year mark…

Fidelity maintains stringent lending standards in this relatively green direct lending offering. This nontraded BDC, which targets so-called traditional middle-market borrowers, is on its way to carving out a niche in a competitive direct lending environment. Before doing so, however, the managers must demonstrate an ability to guard against losses across multiple lending cycles. The strategy merits an Average Process rating…

The pace at which Fidelity has developed its direct lending capability is notable. The Chicago-based group has grown incrementally since its 2021 origins and totaled roughly 40 investors as of June 2026, alongside USD 8 billion in assets. This kind of measured growth stands out as positive. Yet, the freshness of the buildout calls for some patience and earns the strategy an Average People rating.”–Max Curtin, Senior Analyst

T. Rowe Price Goldman Sachs Private Markets TGPIX

“T. Rowe Price Goldman Sachs Private Markets is a promising option for investors seeking broad exposure to private asset classes. The investment teams bring substantial experience, but the interval fund’s recent launch means investors will need patience as they assess how effectively its various strategies and capabilities come together in a single portfolio…

The interval fund has the ingredients in place to be a compelling option, but it’s too early to say how well those pieces will blend. It earns an Average rating for Process.

There’s a lot of experience underpinning this fund, but all the pieces are still fitting together. It earns an Average rating for the People Pillar.”–Jason Kephart, Senior Principal