2026年二级市场报告

Secondaries Set Records OnceAgain in 2025Highlights and Analysis FromWilliam Blair's Private CapitalAdvisory Team William Blair Private Capital AdvisoryWinter 2026 Secondary Market Report Secondary volumes reached$220 billion in 2025,another record year thatexceeded expectations—with Secondaries Set Records, Again The secondary market achieved arecord-breaking 2025, driven byall-time highs in both GP- and LP-ledtransaction volumes. With an even split across both categories, accountingfor $220 billion in total volume,2themarket grew 42% year-over-year. recovery has been concentrated inmegadeals (valued at over $5 billion),while the midmarket activity hasbeen rather static. A similar patternemerged with IPOs, where proceeds LP-led sales were driven by evergreendemand fluidity and new entrants,among other factors as highlightedlater in this report. This performance outpaced the 37%increase in global M&A3and was in linewith the 44% surge in IPO activity,4 Resilience Amid Macroeconomic,Geopolitical Tensions rose to approximately $181 billion Growth in secondaries, on the otherhand, has been exceptional for years,which continued as the 2025 resultsblew past even the bullish predictionsIPOs remained largely flat. Despite theuptick in large-cap transaction activity,many private equity portfolios continueto experience limited liquidity andextended hold periods, reinforcingOf course, 2025 was a tumultuous yearfrom a macroeconomic perspective,with tariffs implemented by the U.S.and geopolitical tensions including thecontinuing Russia/Ukraine war and conflicts in the Middle East stokingmarket uncertainty. But secondaryinvestors were not deterred—and some from insiders surveyed for ourpreviousannual report, and doubled the totalsfrom 2023. Looking ahead, respondentsto our latest survey project $250 billionsecondaries’ growing role as a viableexit alternative.GP-led volume in 2025 was $110even sought to arbitrage the broader billion, mostly driven by the surgemarket volatility: 91% of respondents How M&A, IPO Trends AreDriving Secondaries Although M&A volumes increasedto nearly $5 trillion last year,6the asset continuation funds and LP trades, to limit tariff exposure risks.Supply and Demand Stoke Record Volumes A main driver of the strong activity in 2025 was the pressure felt by GPs to generateliquidity, stemming from trillions in unrealized global private equity assets, as wellas industrywide extended hold periods. That backlog, paired with an uncertain M&Aenvironment, continues to help fuel the supply of secondary transactions coming tomarket. At the same time, secondary funds maintained their fundraising momentum,raising a record $95 billion in 2025 (and a further $17 billion through year-to-dateFebruary 2026), arming specialist secondary investors with dry powder of $248 Growth in secondaries hasbeen exceptional for years,which continued as 2025’sresults blew past even the In addition to incumbent secondary investors raising record funds (e.g., Ardian’s $30billion fund and ICG’s $11 billion single-asset–focused fund), new entrants such asLeonard Green & Partners and Painswick Capital have recently launched secondarystrategies, with strong capital formation momentum providing further lift toaggregate secondary fundraising totals. Furthermore, the continued proliferation of evergreen funds, which are now approaching $700 billion in AUM10and are expectedto grow meaningfully faster than the broader private markets over the next decade,has amplified the supply of investable capital. Evergreen structures, which allow Global Teams Grow to Capture Demand One trend that has been supported by record fundraises and the expected continuedsupply of secondary opportunities is the expansion of secondary investment teamsaround the globe. In the U.S., 73% of secondary investors have actively expandedtheir teams in the past 12 months, and 79% plan to expand further over the next 12 with other trends from 2025. The report focuses on the GP-led market, whilealso providing analysis of LP-led activity (page 7) and a look ahead (page 9), asincreasingly bullish insiders predict $250 billion in volume in 2026 and $400 billionby the end of the decade. Highlights and Analysis From William Blair's GP-Led Volumes Continue to Surge GP-led volumes reached $110 billion,accounting for half of all secondaryactivity and surging from $76 billion in2024. Single-asset continuation funds(“SACF”) jumped from $34 billion to $60billion, a 76% increase. The ability toprovide liquidity to LPs and lock in gainson trophy assets—while extending therunway for value creation—continuesto resonate with sponsors, and therehas been a significant expansion of theaddressable investor universe for SACFtransactions. Notably, check sizes grewmeaningfully in 2025 as secondaryinvestors increasingly looked to co-investors and evergreen vehicles to write situations in which a full continuation fund may not be appropriate. Investors Continue to Pri