- In 2025, LP-led secondary sales of private equity and other private capital stakes hit a record ~$110bn, up ~25% from 2024, as investors sought liquidity from aging funds.
- Including GP-led continuation deals, total secondary volume for “ageing holdings” likely exceeded $200bn amid weak IPO/M&A exits and institutional rebalancing.
- Secondaries fundraising also set records (~$118bn by November), but deal supply outpaced capital, keeping LP-stake pricing only modestly discounted to NAV.
- The surge makes secondaries a core portfolio-management tool, while raising concerns about valuation pressure, fees and returns if competition and macro headwinds intensify.
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The secondary market for private capital underwent a structural transformation in 2025. Traditional exit routes—IPOs and sales—are under pressure from macro uncertainty, rising rates, and price sagging. As a result, institutional investors have increasingly turned to LP-stake sales (where limited partners sell interests in older funds) and GP-led continuation vehicles (where sponsors keep high-performing assets beyond a fund’s formal life) to generate liquidity. The article reports LP-led secondaries reached ~$110 billion globally in 2025, surpassing $89 billion in 2024.
However, LP-led sales are only half of the picture. When combined with GP-led continuation vehicles and other secondary mechanisms, “ageing holdings” transactions likely aggregated over $200 billion in 2025. GP-led deals are growing not just in value but market share, with many continuation vehicles now comprising the bulk of GP-led activity.
Although fundraising for dedicated secondary funds reached ~$118 billion by November 2025—also a record—capital remains tight relative to deal flow. Median discounts on LP stakes have narrowed, with some transactions fetching close to net asset value, especially for younger vintages and high-quality portfolios. Meanwhile, dry powder in secondaries funds, while large in absolute terms (e.g. ~$288 billion as of 2025 according to some reports), only covers roughly 1–1.5 year of deal volume at recent activity levels.
Strategically, these trends indicate that secondaries are no longer fallback tools but central mechanisms for portfolio management. For LPs, secondaries offer exit and rebalancing options. For GPs, continuation vehicles allow retention of skew towards best assets, control over exits, and smoothing of carry realizations. A tight bid-ask spread, retail and evergreen fund participation, and increasing competition are reshaping how pricing, liquidity, and timing are managed.
But this comes with risks: valuation flatness or declines in underlying assets, potential for overpaying as buyer competition intensifies, regulatory scrutiny (especially around fees in GP-led deals), and the possibility that macro shocks (e.g. interest rates, geopolitical risk, recession) could disrupt exit pathways overall, making even GP-led continuation strategies harder to monetize.
Supporting Notes
- 2025 saw ~$110 billion in LP-stake secondary deals globally, up ~25% from ~$89 billion in 2024.
- “Ageing holdings” market (LP sales plus continuation vehicles) likely exceeded $200 billion in transactions for 2025.
- Private capital sector size estimated at ~$22 trillion, underscoring scale of opportunity and challenge.
- Stakes in buyout vehicles made up more than half of supply in H1 2025, per Jefferies, largely due to pension funds rebalancing overweight allocations.
- By November 2025, dedicated secondary funds raised ~$118 billion.
- In H1 2025, H1 transactions reached ~$103 billion (~51% YoY growth) via secondaries, with LP-led ~$56 billion and GP-led ~$47 billion.
- GP-led deals, especially continuation vehicles, have become the dominant form of GP-led secondary activity; CVs accounted for ~84% of GP-led secondary volume in H1 2025.
- Dry powder in secondaries dedicated capital was ~$288 billion in 2025, though this may only support ~1.3 years of deal volume at current pace.
- LP portfolio pricing on many buyout stakes traded at 89-90% of NAV; younger vintages and stronger assets achieved better pricing.
- Participation from retail and evergreen vehicles increased, now representing nearly one-third of secondary fundraising.