Secondaries now drive 71% of VC exits as firms adapt to longer hold periods and seek strategic liquidity options.

Must Know: Private Credit Surges as Traditional Asset Managers Struggle to Keep Pace Bottom Line:  Private credit firms are rapidly...

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.

UK private capital adapts to exit constraints with US investment surge and secondary market growth reshaping liquidity strategies.

The private equity secondary market shattered records in 2024, reaching $160 billion in transaction volume as limited partners and general partners turned to alternative liquidity solutions amid a prolonged distribution drought. According to StepStone Group's August 2025 report, the first half of 2025 has already seen $102 billion in transactions, putting the market on track to break last year's record again.

Ares Management Corporation posted second-quarter results that demonstrated resilience amid market disruption, delivering record quarterly fundraising of $26.2 billion and assets under management growth to $572 billion. The alternative investment manager navigated tariff-related volatility that temporarily slowed transaction activity in April and May while successfully integrating its GCP International acquisition, which contributed $103 million in revenues during its first f

Credit secondaries surge 70%+ annually as continuation vehicles become mainstream solution for GP-led liquidity needs.

Private credit secondaries are experiencing explosive growth as the broader $1.7 trillion private credit market creates unprecedented liquidity demands, with deal flow surging from $5-7 billion five years ago to $36 billion in 2024. Rick Jain, Partner and Global Head of Private Credit at Pantheon, warns that while opportunities abound, the market faces potential disruption from mounting macroeconomic uncertainty and overconfidence in current pricing.

Private markets pivot to retail investors as institutional capital slows, while firms push higher leverage ratios to compete. Major fundraising milestones include Haveli's record $4.5B debut fund and iCapital's $820M raise. Banks fight PE talent poaching with new policies. Global PE deal value up 18.7% to $386B in H1 despite fewer transactions.

Private credit enters mainstream through 401(k)s as BlackRock completes $12B HPS acquisition, but industry faces capital abundance problem with too much money chasing limited deals. Major developments include Meta's $29B AI infrastructure fundraising, GTCR's record $24.25B exit, and expanding UAE private capital hub. Returns under pressure.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.

Avista Healthcare Partners closes continuation fund for GCM, backed by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and BlackRock Secondaries.

Kyle Madison joins Pendlebury Hall Advisors as Director to co-lead the firm's growing Secondary Advisory Services practice.

José Luis González Pastor, Managing Director at Neuberger Berman covering private markets and co-investments, spoke on that Fund Shack podcast from the SuperReturn Conference in Berlin about the current state of private equity in 2025. González Pastor identifies a significant liquidity crunch gripping private markets, with deal-making activity stalling due to political and macroeconomic uncertainty despite initial optimism for 2025.

Michael Schad, Partner and Head of Credit Secondaries at Coller Capital, sat down with Fund Shack at SuperReturn Berlin to discuss the explosive growth potential of private credit secondaries. Schad argues that the shift from bank lending to private fund lending represents a secular trend that could eventually make credit secondaries larger than private equity secondaries.

PitchBook's Q1 2025 US VC Valuations and Returns Report reveals an unprecedented concentration of capital, with AI & machine learning companies capturing 71.1% of total VC investment value while representing just one-third of all deals. This bifurcated market shows AI continuing to command premium valuations while the broader venture ecosystem faces pressure.

Wealthy individual investors are pouring money into "evergreen" private equity vehicles, allowing large institutional investors to sell their fund stakes at higher prices despite the private equity industry's ongoing slump.

Apollo announced the successful closing of its first equity secondaries fund at $5.4 billion, exceeding its target, according to a press release and Bloomberg's reporting. The fund represents Apollo's expansion into secondhand private equity deals as liquidity challenges mount in private markets.

Asia-Pacific private equity markets showed tentative recovery signs in 2024, with deal value increasing 11% while fundraising plunged to a 10-year low, according to Bain & Company's Asia-Pacific Private Equity Report 2025. India emerged as the region's star performer, recording double-digit growth in both deal value and count.

Despite a slowdown in private markets over the past three years, Schroders Capital's Q2 2025 outlook suggests valuations and yields are now attractive, though significant risks remain from US policy changes affecting trade, immigration, and ESG priorities.