第二卷继续破纪录

INVESTMENT BANKING Secondary Volumes Continue toBreak Records Investors in the space are full steam ahead despite themacroeconomic and geopolitical developments of the pastseveral months—and continue to show a strong appetite. Bullishness around secondaries has continued to grow over the course of theyear, as LP- and GP-leds prove an increasingly important alternative given broaderliquidity constraints. Investors surveyed in early 2025 by William Blair projected$175 billion in annual volume, split almost evenly between LP-leds and GP-leds.By the second quarter, investors projected a record of nearly $200 billion, withsecondaries reaching nearly $100 million in the first half alone.1 Authors Mike Custar+1 332 262 2551mcustar@williamblair.com Quinn Kolberg+1 332 262 2550qkolberg@williamblair.com Tom Marking+1 332 262 2554tmarking@williamblair.com Kyle McManus+1 212 237 2706kmcmanus@williamblair.com Tim-Oliver Seidel+44 20 7297 4750toseidel@williamblair.com Jake Stuiver+1 332 262 2577jstuiver@williamblair.com What’s behind the exponential growth? LP-led pricing continued to improve assellers sought liquidity and as tariff-related uncertainty began to ebb late in thespring. For GP-leds, sponsors continue to utilize continuation funds to deliverliquidity to shareholders in light of a slower-than-expected rebound in the M&Amarket. The bullishness around secondaries shows no signs of waning, as investors notonly project a strong finish to 2025 but a record 2026. In the following report, wediscuss trends in the LP- and GP-led markets and the outlook for the remainder of2025 and beyond. LP-Leds Surge as Funds Look to Monetize Market uncertainty stemming from new U.S. tariff policy in April made LP-ledsellers somewhat less motivated, but the sentiment was fleeting—and we canagain characterize LP-led sellers as “slightly motivated” (see chart). Buyers insecondaries have apparently grown accustomed to uncertainty and are nowcomfortable pricing in regular macro turbulence. Understanding Secondary Market Pricing3After falling slightly this spring as a result of tariff-related uncertainty, seller motivation improved in recent months, and we can now characterize them asslightly motivated. Each move to the right on the chart below represents anincrease of approximately 300 basis points. The continued emergence of retail investing (notably through ’40 Act Funds andtheir interest in tail-end deals) has stoked the market, as limited partners’ needfor liquidity remains significant. Indeed, ’40 Act Funds are a big reason LP-ledvolume slightly outpaced GP-leds in the first half of 2025. Going forward, LP-led buyers could become increasingly willing to get theirhands dirty in more complex portfolios. Case in point, the emerging marketscategory had languished in recent years but is now drawing increased interest.That’s partly due to improved overall pricing, but sellers in the category are re-evaluating risk profiles and realizing that proceeds—even at lower valuationsrelative to other asset classes—can be effectively redeployed. LP-Leds Surge as FundsLook to Monetize In addition, energy has bounced back with strong enough demand to sustainmore growth. There also are early signs of a real estate, rebound with sellerspossibly coming to terms with lower valuations. Finally, LP-led pricing has been dynamic in recent weeks with ’40 Act fundsfluctuating in and out of the market as they hit deployment goals and/or depletefunds. This is especially pronounced on more tail-end deals, which can move up ordown by 500 basis points (or more) depending on where some larger evergreenfunds are in their cycles. One result has been unpredictability, but anotheris big promises being made based on best-case scenarios that are far morecircumstantial than they used to be—even as the downside case could still likelyyield decent outcomes. GP-Leds, Continuation Funds Still CookingWhile slightly behind total LP-led volumes, GP-led activity also reached a record in the first half of 2025. Nearly five years after 2021’s fundraising peak, sponsorsremain acutely focused on DPI—and are increasingly turning to continuationfunds to provide liquidity ahead of the next fundraise and to deliver shareholderliquidity amid slower M&A volumes. Single- and multi-asset continuation funds are at the center of the strong activity,both growing at healthy clips. Multi-asset transactions were a significant presencein the first half, as the structure allows sponsors to generate liquidity for multiplecompanies in single transactions and address other firm-level objectives (e.g.,realigning economics, raising follow-on capital, winding down older funds). At thesame time, single assets remain the drumbeat of the GP-led market and continueto provide sponsors opportunities to hold onto their prized assets while offeringinvestors meaningful liquidity. Helping fuel the continued growth is additional capital that has come online.’40 Act funds remain highly active