Secondaries: Capitalising on the wave

A liquidity drought drives the secondaries surge

The secondaries market experienced a pronounced growth spurt in 2025 with transaction volumes expected to surge to an estimated $220-230bn, up over 30% from the prior year¹.

This expansion was fuelled by several key factors: persistent liquidity challenges among Limited Partners (LPs), who increasingly turned to secondaries as a proactive portfolio management tool; the growing normalisation of General Partner (GP)-led continuation vehicles as an alternative to M&A and IPOs while these traditional exit options continued to be stalled; and strong institutional acceptance of these structures as strategic solutions, rather than event-driven exceptions.

Additional drivers included ageing private capital portfolios with lagging distributions, a growing backlog of unrealised assets, and the emergence of evergreen and private wealth vehicles raising new capital for secondaries strategies.

Together, these dynamics have led to a rising tide of historical record growth, positioning secondaries as a critical mechanism for achieving liquidity and flexibility in private markets.