Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund (CCLFX) Repurchases: 7.00% in March 2026, the Most It Can Buy

What CCLFX is, in one paragraph

Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund is a private credit interval fund sold to individual investors through advisers and wealth platforms. It lends mostly senior loans to middle-market companies, through what its letter calls a "multi-lender model". It started in June 2019 and its annual report puts net assets at $31.26 billion on March 31, 2026, with 2.97 billion Class I shares outstanding. Unlike a non-traded BDC such as HLEND or OCIC, whose quarterly tender is discretionary, an interval fund has a "fundamental policy to make quarterly repurchase offers, at per-class NAV, of not less than 5%" of its shares. The offer is a fundamental policy, not a decision the board takes each quarter. The limit runs the other way too: in one offer it buys at most 7%, and anything tendered above that is prorated.

Twelve quarters of repurchases

From the repurchase tables in the fund's annual reports. The percentage is of shares outstanding; the NAV is Class I at the pricing date, which is the same day as the request deadline.

For three years, the amount bought stayed inside the 5% offer. December 2025 was the first of these twelve offers above 5%, which means the fund used part of its discretionary 2%. March 2026 hit 7.00% exactly. The repurchase notice spells out what that means: "If the Fund determines not to repurchase an additional two percent (2%) or if more than seven percent (7%) of the outstanding shares are tendered, then the Fund will repurchase shares on a pro rata basis." At 7.00% the fund bought everything up to the ceiling; whether requests went beyond it, and by how much, is not in the filing. The next semiannual report, for the six months to September 30, 2026 and due around December, will show the May and August offers.

When can you sell CCLFX: the 2026 calendar

Each quarter the fund files a Form N-23C-3 with a letter to shareholders. The two 2026 offers after March ran May 8 to May 29 and July 28 to August 31, 2026, each "up to five percent (5%) of its outstanding shares" at NAV on the pricing date, with requests due by 4:00 p.m. Eastern on the last day. On the fund's recent rhythm the next notice should arrive in late October or November 2026. Three terms from the notice matter to anyone planning an exit:

• "The Fund will not charge a repurchase fee," though a broker or retirement-plan trustee may charge one for submitting the request.
• The fund "may accept all shares tendered for repurchase by shareholders who own less than $2,500 worth of shares and who tender all of their shares, before prorating other amounts tendered."
• If an offer is prorated, "Subsequent repurchase requests will not be given priority over other shareholder requests": the unfilled part has to be resubmitted and competes with everyone else.

Money in, money out, and a fund that has started to shrink

The fund still grew over fiscal 2026: new money of $9.9 billion exceeded repurchases of $6.0 billion. The annual letter puts it this way: net assets "grew from $28.1 billion as of March 31, 2025, to $31.3 billion as of March 31, 2026." The quarterly Form N-PORT filings show what happened after the peak:

Net assets fell about $1.15 billion in six months and borrowings about $1.23 billion (our arithmetic). That is the opposite of OCIC, which has added debt while it shrinks. Cliffwater's own letter describes the fund as having "less than half the leverage of most other evergreen direct lending funds."

NAV, income and the distribution

Class I NAV at the repurchase pricing dates was $10.77-$10.78 through fiscal 2025, then $10.76, $10.72, $10.67 and $10.52 across fiscal 2026. NAV moves within each quarter as income accrues and is paid out, so the cleanest comparison is the same point in the cycle: on the July notice dates it was $10.68 in 2024 and $10.28 in 2026, down 3.7% (our arithmetic). In fiscal 2026 the fund booked $212.5 million of net realized losses and $291.6 million of net unrealized depreciation.

The financial highlights show the payout running ahead of income: net investment income of $0.95 a share and distributions of $1.09 in fiscal 2026, after $1.08 of income and $0.90 of distributions the year before. In dollars, $2.76 billion of net investment income against $3.07 billion distributed (about 90%, our arithmetic). Total expenses including interest were 3.31% of average net assets. The fund's letter notes a realized loss rate of 0.04% a year since inception and says its software loans "continued to show revenue growth above 10%."

What a holder can do with this

• If you want out: requests go in during the offer window in the N-23C-3 notice, through your adviser or platform. The next window should open in late October or November 2026.
• If you asked in March 2026: the fund bought 7.00% of its shares. If more than that was tendered, you were prorated and had to resubmit in May; the annual report does not say which.
• If you are watching the trend: the signal to read is the percentage repurchased in the next semiannual report. Another quarter at 7.00% means demand is at or above the ceiling; a return toward 3% means the March spike passed.
• What would change the math: new money recovering, or the board choosing not to use the extra 2%, which would make proration start at 5%.

FAQ

All figures are from Cliffwater Corporate Lending Fund's SEC filings read on EDGAR on October 4, 2026: the annual reports on Form N-CSR for the years ended March 31, 2024, 2025 and 2026 (accessions 0001213900-24-050723, 0001213900-25-052571 and 0001213900-26-066324), the semiannual report for the six months ended September 30, 2025, eleven Form N-23C-3 repurchase notices (January 2024 to July 2026) and Form N-PORT reports for December 2025, March 2026 and June 2026. The number of shares tendered in each offer is not disclosed in these filings. Percentage changes and ratios are our arithmetic. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.