Percent Review 2026: 20 Workouts, a FINRA Fine, 10% Fee

What Percent is, and which company does what

Percent describes itself as a private credit marketplace that has “been facilitating investments in private credit since 2018.” An accredited investor picks individual deals, usually unsecured notes, from specialty lenders that finance small businesses, merchants, consumers and other borrowers. Percent's home page says investing starts “from $500,” and its FAQ says the offerings are “Reg D 506( c ) exempt,” which is why only verified accredited investors can use it. The searches for “percent investing” and “percent private credit” are mostly this reader: someone with $250,000 or more comparing platforms such as Yieldstreet (see our Yieldstreet review and Yieldstreet alternatives) and private credit funds (see private credit funds in 2026).

The name covers several legal entities. We pieced them together from BrokerCheck's affiliate list, the broker-dealer's audited notes and the adviser's Form ADV:

The Percent group, from FINRA, SEC and Form ADV records

Name collisions matter here. EDGAR also holds “Percent Pledge Labs Inc.” (a Chicago company with its own Form D notices) and a venture vehicle called “Percent Sep 2022 a Series of The Fintech Fund LLC”; nothing in the Percent or Cadence records links them, and we left them out.

What Percent says it has done

Percent publishes a performance page and a quarterly report. These are the company's claims, not audited results. We read the page “as of September 30, 2026” and the Q3 report of October 21, 2026.

Percent's own track record, as of September 30, 2026 (company claim)

Percent's Q3 report adds that investors were paid $12.0 million of interest in the quarter and $50.8 million in the twelve months to September 30, 2026, that $100.2 million of principal came back in Q3, and that “no charge-offs were recorded in any month from January through September 2026.” Its latest charge-offs were in December 2025: $8.7 million of principal “from corporate loan deals that had been in workout.” Corporate loans have defaulted at 11.03% of issuance; lender-finance deals at 2.49%. Percent says asset-based offerings were 79.1% of assets on September 30, 2026, up from 72.4% a year earlier.

Which return is which

Percent shows several return figures that are not comparable. The one on the home page is a subset:

Return figures Percent publishes, and what each covers (company claims)

The home page was still showing the March figure on November 13, 2026. Percent defines its marketplace return as “all interest paid to investors minus charge-offs, divided by average assets under management.” A defaulted balance that stops paying interest but has not been charged off lowers the return without appearing as a loss; that is the part to watch next.

The denominator: 4.56% of everything ever issued, or 20.2% of today's book

Percent's default rate divides defaulted principal by all principal ever issued since 2018: “Default rate is defaulted principal divided by since-inception issuance.” That is a fair way to describe a pool that keeps growing, and Percent says so about its own method. It is a gentle one for a reader asking how much of the money outstanding today is in trouble. The Q3 report gives both ingredients for the second question:

Percent's workout balance against its assets under management (company figures; the percentage is our arithmetic)

Percent's own framing of the same $52.3 million in June was that it equals “2.5% of the $2.07 billion syndicated.” It also says “An outstanding balance is not a loss”: some will be recovered and some will not. Both statements are accurate. The caveats on our ratio are real: AUM is one day's snapshot, workout balances have accumulated since 2018, and we cannot see how much of each defaulted balance still sits inside AUM. What the two denominators show together is the size of the question: the same $73.1 million is 3.3% of issuance and 20.2% of assets today. In the one quarter between June 30 and September 30 it grew by $20.8 million (our arithmetic), mostly Nera.

The 20 programs in workout

Percent names every program in workout each quarter. These are companies, not individuals, and the figures are Percent's, as of September 30, 2026. “Sr.” is a senior note, “Jr.” a junior note repaid after the senior notes from the same collateral.

Active workouts listed in Percent's Q3 2026 report (company claim)

Eight of the 20 programs use Aluna Partners as underwriter (seven corporate loans and Juancho Te Presta); they hold $21,429,410 of the outstanding balance, 29.3% of the total (our arithmetic). Percent says Nera “finances UK law firms against portfolios of litigation receivables,” that its cash interest stopped when a UK regulator put both firms under supervisory review, and that Percent “is negotiating a restructuring with outside counsel.” Two of the 20 lines are Sharestates, a real-estate lender we cover in our Sharestates review; together they are $893,000 of the outstanding total (our sum).

FINRA, the SEC and the broker-dealer's own audit

The June 9, 2026 AWC

FINRA BrokerCheck shows one disclosure for Percent Securities, LLC, a “Regulatory - Final” event reported by both FINRA and the firm. FINRA's version (BrokerCheck prints it in capitals): “without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the sanctions and to the entry of findings that while acting as placement agent, it failed to timely file offering documents with FINRA for 372 private placement offerings of unregistered securities issued by companies owned and controlled by the firm's parent company.” The documents were filed between at least three and 164 days after they were first given to prospective investors, and on average at least 15 days late. The firm's own version covers “October 2023 through August 2025,” cites FINRA Rules 5122 and 2010 and gives the sanction as a censure and a $60,000 fine. BrokerCheck answers “No” to whether the order is a final order based on violations of laws that prohibit fraudulent, manipulative or deceptive conduct. We read the BrokerCheck entry; we did not reach the AWC document itself.

FINRA Rule 5122 covers what the firm's entry calls member private offerings, which includes offerings by companies the member's parent owns. The point for a reader is the scale: 372 offerings in 23 months, all issued by companies Percent's parent owns.

The 2025 exam, in the firm's own audited notes

The broker-dealer's audited statement for 2025, filed with the SEC on February 27, 2026, has a contingency note: “FINRA concluded a routine risk-based cycle examination of the Company in 2025,” noting exceptions to SEC Rule 15c3-3 (the Customer Protection Rule), SEC Rule 15c2-4 (payments received in connection with underwritings) and FINRA Rule 2231 (customer account statements). It continues: “FINRA's Department of Enforcement began an investigation into these exceptions in 2025,” the firm was “awaiting a reply from FINRA” and “has corrected its policies and procedures to ensure that exceptions to the noted rules do not recur.” The BrokerCheck entry we read describes the Rule 5122 matter only; we found no document showing how the 2025 exam matter ended.

The same note matters because of what the firm holds. The statement shows customer cash of $24,928,785 segregated under federal rules and $25,364,183 payable to customers at December 31, 2025, and says the firm “took custody of customer funds from the Platform on February 4, 2025.” Customer cash is the area the Customer Protection Rule governs.

What the adviser's brochure says, and when

Percent Advisors LLC's Form ADV Part 2A, submitted April 2, 2026, says: “For the last 10 years, there have been no disciplinary disclosure items for Percent or any of its related persons.” It predates the June 9 AWC, so the two do not contradict each other; read any later version of the brochure on IAPD before relying on that sentence. We found no SEC order or litigation release naming Percent, and we did not search the 50 state regulators or any court docket (CourtListener was unavailable on November 13, 2026, so court records are not scored; we are not writing “no cases”).

Where the money goes: the broker-dealer's audited numbers

Percent Securities' audited statements show what the sales side earns. They are the only audited figures in this review.

Percent Securities, LLC, audited (SEC Form X-17A-5; PKF O'Connor Davies, LLP)

Placement fees grew 2.5 times in a year (our arithmetic), in a year Percent says it facilitated $532.4 million across 268 deals. $6,835,648 over $532.4 million is 1.28% (our arithmetic), the broker-dealer's cut only; the Form ADV says the parent may also charge underwriters and borrowers onboarding, syndication and platform fees, and that Percent Securities “receives a fee equal to a percent of the gross proceeds from the offering of the Unsecured Notes,” which is not shared with the adviser. The auditor's opinion on the 2025 statement is unmodified.

The Form D record

Percent says its offerings are sold under Rule 506(c). Companies that sell under Regulation D file a Form D with the SEC. The Percent and Cadence entities have filed seven, and they say little about the volume Percent reports:

SEC Form D filings under Percent and Cadence names (EDGAR, pulled November 13, 2026)

The notes platform's last Form D is dated December 17, 2021 and shows $6,102,000 sold two weeks after the first sale. Percent now says it has funded $2.19 billion. FINRA counted 372 private offerings by companies owned by the parent between October 2023 and August 2025. We found none of them under a Percent or Cadence name in EDGAR. The Form ADV says investors buy notes “issued by various series” of Cadence Group Platform, LLC, so the deal-level issuers may file under other names, or the series may not file separately. We did not test whether any amendment or filing was due, and this is a gap in what we could read, not a finding of a violation. The offering documents for each deal sit behind Percent's login.

Registered funds that name Percent

Two registered funds mention Percent in their SEC reports. AOG Institutional Fund's report for the six months to March 31, 2026 (filed June 5, 2026) lists a $4,000,000 loan to “Cadence Group Platform, LLC DBA Percent Technologies Platform, LLC, SPR 2026-2,” at 17.29%, maturing January 31, 2027; the schedule of investments shows loans at 4.3% of the fund's net assets. Pursuit Asset-Based Income Fund's N-CSR (filed June 8, 2026) says Percent Technologies “serves as the Fund's loan servicing provider,” that it is “a minority investor in the Investment Manager of the Fund,” and that the fund paid $384,046 in loan servicing fees. Institutional money and Percent's affiliates are in the same structures as the retail notes.

What it costs, in Percent's own terms

Percent's FAQ says that since September 1, 2023, “each investment opportunity on the platform will have a fee that is equivalent to 10% of each advertised interest payment (not your principal),” and gives an example: “for an offering with a 15% Coupon Rate, our new fee will translate to 1.5% providing a net Rate to investors of 13.5%.” Secondary sales: “Each completed trade is subject to a fee of 50 basis points (0.50%) on the trade size for both the buyer and the seller,” and “liquidity is not guaranteed.” The Form ADV adds, for separately managed accounts, a management fee of 1% a year of the account balance, on top of the same 10% service fee on coupons. Blended Notes, a third route, have fees that “vary by note.”

$100,000 for a year (our arithmetic)

We use the outstanding weighted-average coupon of 16.75% as the deal rate, since it is the figure Percent publishes for its whole book.

What $100,000 of Percent notes costs and returns in a year (our arithmetic)

The gap is the number to understand before putting money in. It is not Percent's fee, which is already out of both figures. It comes from defaulted balances that do not pay, charge-offs, cash waiting to be invested and the difference between a stated coupon and what is collected. If the defaulted balance in workout paid nothing, a book 20.2% of whose assets is in workout would earn 16.75% x (1 - 0.202) = 13.4% before fees on the rest (our arithmetic); the reported 11.80% before fees sits below even that. We cannot split the gap from the sources we read, so we do not.

What a reader can do with this

1. Read two denominators, not one. Ask for the defaulted balance in workout as a share of assets under management today, and as a share of the deal you are looking at. The company's 4.56% divides by every dollar issued since 2018; our ratio of 20.2% divides by the book still outstanding.
2. Look at the senior or junior line. The two largest workouts, Nera ($20.3 million, senior) and FAT Brands ($15.3 million, junior), hold $35.6 million between them, which is 49% of the outstanding workout balance (our arithmetic). Junior notes are repaid after the senior notes from the same collateral.
3. Match the figure to the product. The 14.6% on the home page is for asset-backed deals only and was a March figure; the all-deals return for twelve months to September 30, 2026 is 11.80% after losses and 10.4% after fees.
4. Plan the exit as a sale, not a withdrawal. Notes return principal when borrowers repay; the secondary market opened in February 2026 and costs 0.50% each side, and Percent says liquidity is “not guaranteed.” For the way periodic-withdrawal funds behave, see our private credit fund redemptions tracker.
5. Read the entity that sells you the note. BrokerCheck for Percent Securities, LLC (CRD 314782) shows the June 9, 2026 AWC; Form ADV for Percent Advisors LLC is on IAPD. Ask for the offering document of the specific series before funding.
6. Check the accreditation test you are relying on. Percent verifies accreditation through a partner; our page on the qualified purchaser and accredited investor tests lists the thresholds. For the category, see what private credit is.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice. Sources: Percent's track-record, FAQ, home, Q1 2026, Q2 2026, Q3 2026 and 2025 year-in-review pages (captured November 13, 2026); FINRA BrokerCheck report for Percent Securities, LLC, CRD 314782 (pulled November 13, 2026); SEC Forms X-17A-5 of Percent Securities for fiscal 2024 and 2025 (accessions 0001863789-25-000001 and 0001863789-26-000001); SEC Form D filings 0001765000-21-000001, 0001765000-21-000002, 0001765000-23-000002, 0001567619-19-001147, 0001567619-20-021592, 0001760853-21-000002 and 0002088320-26-000021; IAPD records and Form ADV Part 2A of Percent Advisors LLC and IAPD record of Percent Fund Advisors; AOG Institutional Fund Form N-CSRS (accession 0001213900-26-065905) and Pursuit Asset-Based Income Fund Form N-CSR (accession 0001213900-26-066249). Compiled November 13, 2026.