Private equity firms sold $41bn of companies back to themselves in H1 2025 as exit routes stay blocked. With $3tn in stranded assets and rising "zombie fund" predictions, firms turn to continuation vehicles while pension funds retreat from private credit amid quality concerns and regulatory scrutiny intensifies globally.

Jenny Johnson warns that alternatives managers have largely saturated institutional markets and are now aggressively targeting the wealth channel, creating both opportunities and risks for individual investors.

Apollo Global Management identifies a massive shift underway in fixed income markets, predicting that private credit will expand from $1.5 trillion to $40 trillion by decade's end as institutional investors seek yield beyond traditional public markets.

The convergence of public and private markets is accelerating, but fees in semi-liquid private market vehicles are currently three times higher than typical mutual funds—creating a steep hurdle that threatens widespread adoption. Kunal Kapoor, CEO of Morningstar, warns that without dramatic fee compression, the industry's mainstream ambitions will stall despite growing investor interest.

Healthcare costs now consume up to 20% of U.S. GDP and are growing at twice the rate of inflation, creating what one private equity executive calls a "national security issue" that threatens America's spending power on defense and other priorities. Daniel Berglund, Head of U.S. and Co-Head of Healthcare at Nordic Capital, argues that this unsustainable trajectory demands a fundamental shift toward technology-driven solutions and value-based care models.

Private credit secondaries explode to $18B as liquidity crunch hits funds. Goldman invests $1B in T. Rowe for retail push. Major deals: $38B Oracle data centers, $20B Carlyle secondaries fund. Asia education boom driven by Apollo/KKR. Industry consolidation expected as 96% of managers anticipate M&A within 5 years amid regulatory pressures.Retry

Private credit's $3 trillion market faces first major test as discipline separates winners from losers in maturing cycle.

Infrastructure investing has evolved beyond passive ownership to require operational intensity and network-building capabilities.

AI will transform private markets like Bloomberg did bonds—operational efficiency today, new investment strategies tomorrow.

Wealthy Americans drove record $48B into private credit in H1 2025, offsetting institutional pullback. Major deals included Thoma Bravo's $2.7B Verint financing & Apollo's $3.5B Aspen exit. TPG faced healthcare scrutiny while regulators tightened oversight globally. Venture debt hit $53B record as firms target mature companies amid prolonged private periods.

Private equity firms are facing mounting evidence that their healthcare investments prioritize profits over patients, with new investigations revealing dangerous practices at hospitals from Massachusetts to Pakistan.

Private equity faces historic crisis: 30,000+ portfolio companies need 8 years to exit at current pace. Despite $29B Meta deal & $10B Warburg returns, PE stocks trail S&P 500 as LP pressure mounts. Exit drought drives "private for longer" revolution via continuation vehicles. Critics warn retail 401(k) access inappropriate amid inventory bottleneck.

Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor, speaking at the 2025 Morningstar Investment Conference in Chicago, outlined how his firm is responding to this fundamental shift by extending its analytical framework to cover private investments.

Alaska's $85B fund CIO warns private market premiums have vanished as valuations soar beyond historical norms.

Private markets' spreadsheet-based infrastructure will be fully automated by AI within years, not decades.

The energy transition sector has evolved from a high-risk merchant market to a predictable fee-generating opportunity, creating what could be a decade-long investment window before large infrastructure players drive down returns to uninvestable levels. Chris Rozzell, managing partner at Cresta Fund Management, brings a rare founder-operator perspective to middle-market private equity, having grown Regency Energy Partners from $100 million to multi-billion dollar enterprise va

Jamie Rhode, Partner at Screendoor, a venture fund-of-funds that exclusively backs institutional-grade emerging managers, joined Balentic CEO Kasper Wichmann on Balentic Edge to discuss why traditional LP thinking about early-stage venture is fundamentally flawed.

Todd Abbrecht, Co-CEO of THL Partners, argues that the industry's future success depends on deep domain expertise and integrated operational capabilities rather than deal-making prowess alone.

Ramtin Naimi, founder of Abstract Ventures, argues that traditional seed funds are largely delusional about their deal flow advantages and that multi-stage tier-one firms consistently outperform at seed investing.

Michael Arougheti, CEO of Ares Management, which oversees $570 billion in assets, appeared on Bloomberg Surveillance following the firm's Q2 2025 earnings call to discuss how alternative asset managers are navigating this environment. His firm deployed $27 billion in the quarter despite subdued deal activity, highlighting how the industry has evolved beyond traditional M&A dependency to encompass digital infrastructure, real estate, private credit, and asset-based finance acr