Secondaries 2025
A record year with structural tailwinds
Growth was driven by a broadly balanced mix of traditional LP-led transactions and GP-led solutions. At the same time, the buyer base continued to expand: cumulative fundraising reached a new record of roughly USD 165 billion. More important than the absolute volume, however, is the underlying market structure. Industry dry powder, measured as available capital relative to annual investment volume, stood at around 1.4x – a historically low level. This points to strong absorptive capacity and a well-functioning market environment.
LP segment: stable pricing enables active portfolio management
In 2025, institutional investors continued to use the LP market as an active tool for liquidity management, rebalancing and portfolio optimisation. Transaction execution benefited in particular from a stabilised pricing environment: high-quality buyout fund interests traded at average price levels of around 90% of net asset value. This level of pricing supports portfolio reallocations and accelerates decision-making processes. Alongside buyout funds – still the backbone of the LP market – private credit secondaries have recently gained notable momentum.
GP segment: continuation vehicles as an integral part of exit strategies
Structural growth also continued in the GP-led segment. Continuation vehicles (CVs) are now firmly established: in 2025, approximately 19% of financial sponsor-led exits were executed through CV solutions. They offer existing investors flexibility between liquidity and reinvestment, while allowing fund managers to pursue proven value creation strategies within more focused structures.
Driven by a strong second half, transaction volume in the GP-led segment surpassed USD 100 billion for the first time. The market saw larger deal sizes, a broader buyer base and initial cases of follow-on continuation vehicles (“CVs on CVs” or “CV-squared”) for particularly high-performing assets.
Macro environment and Europe: secondaries as a stabilising portfolio component
While traditional exit markets continued to recover in 2025, activity levels remain below previous peaks. A full normalisation is expected over the coming years, assuming valuation levels remain stable and investment pressure on the buy-side continues to increase. In this environment, secondaries are gaining strategic relevance: they provide predictable distributions and support orderly portfolio management with a clearly defined risk profile.
At the same time, Europe has moved further into focus for institutional investors. European portfolios have shown resilient pricing, and interest in the small- and mid-market segment continues to grow. Many companies are regionally anchored, service-oriented and less directly exposed to geopolitical or trade-related disruptions. These structural characteristics support valuations, enhance transaction certainty and create attractive conditions – particularly for mid-market-focused continuation vehicle solutions.
Outlook 2026: high activity, discipline remains key
There are strong indications that market activity will remain elevated in 2026. The buyer base is well capitalised, price expectations have become more realistic and the pipeline of transactions in preparation is broad. At the same time, success will continue to depend on asset quality, early access to attractive opportunities and disciplined transaction structuring. Secondaries are not a homogeneous asset class – sustainable value creation requires selectivity, structural expertise and active management.
Golding update: consistent positioning in the secondaries market
In 2025, Golding held the final close of its second dedicated private equity secondaries fund at over EUR 510 million. The fund is already approximately three-quarters invested and broadly diversified across more than 20 transactions and around 100 portfolio companies, with a focus on resilient, cash-generative business models in Europe and select exposures in North America. As with its predecessor, investors received a meaningful initial distribution already in the year of the final closing.
Against the backdrop of attractive market dynamics and the structural appeal of secondaries, we are currently preparing the successor fund, «Golding Secondaries III», which is scheduled to launch in the first half of 2026. In addition to commingled fund structures, we also offer institutional investors tailored secondaries solutions, including managed accounts.
If you would like to receive further information on «Golding Secondaries III», please contact your client relationship manager or write to us at info@goldingcapital.com.
