Fundraising and Capital Markets

• LPs keep rewarding focused single strategy managers over multi strategy generalists
• A Fund I close only opens LP evaluation, and top launches still take close to three years to final close
• Fundraising has fallen for eight straight quarters as funds above $5B, under 5% of funds by count, capture ~45% of global capital against a $4.6T dry powder overhang
• The market has split between brand name managers raising easily and mid sized firms with weak DPI struggling to close
• Confidence is returning to fundraising across PE, private credit and infrastructure even as conditions stay tight
• Global capital raised across all strategies fell from ~$1.9T in 2021 to ~$650B through H1 2026, with European PE hitting a decade low of 54 closes
• Private credit fundraising is concentrating fast, with Ares closing the largest private credit fund ever at over €17B

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Deal and Fund Closings

• Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $11.7B across its PE platforms, over a third already deployed into $500M to $3B businesses
• Schroders Capital closed Global Direct IV, its flagship co-investment fund, at $1.3B
• Volition closed Fund VI at $950M, bringing AUM to $2.6B across four funds in twelve years
• IQ-EQ supported the launch of Ormer Capital's inaugural fund in Guernsey
• Carlyle closed its second infrastructure credit fund at $2.3B, over 3.5x its predecessor
• Bain's midyear healthcare PE report found deal value moderating in H1 2026 while activity stayed historically strong

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Fund Mechanics and Structuring

• Fund accounting covers the full lifecycle, from capital calls and NAV to fees, carry and distribution waterfalls
• A new primer detailed capital call mechanics including equalization, recycling versus recall, subscription lines and default consequences
• NAV loans borrow against portfolio company value rather than uncalled commitments, drawing fresh LP scrutiny
• Management company funding before first close remains one of private markets' most underserved financing gaps
• Luxembourg's new carried interest tax law (effective January 2026) positions it as a rival fund domicile to London, Paris and Amsterdam
• Fund finance is shifting beyond subscription lines toward continuation vehicles, evergreen structures and securitization

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Family Offices and Direct Investing

• A free index of 450 named funds of funds and family office decision makers began circulating
• Michael Dell's DFO Management partnered with Sequence on a $7.7B take private of Baldwin Insurance Group
• Salem Capital blends single family office flexibility with institutional grade investment discipline
• More family offices with in house staff are pushing past fund commitments into direct and co-investments
• ADIA cut its real estate allocation range while raising its private equity range to 15 to 20 percent
• Family offices are luring MBA and banking talent with earlier co-investment ownership stakes
• 92.7% of newly formed family offices in 2026 now prioritize direct investments over funds

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Secondaries and Continuation Vehicles

• Evergreen funds and expanding wealth channels are reshaping valuation, liquidity and investor expectations
• Collateralized Fund Obligations are giving insurers and pensions a new path to PE secondaries liquidity
• Continuation vehicles are becoming the standard release valve for GPs sitting on long held positions
• Peterson Partners closed a $510M continuation vehicle for Kelso Industries, led by NorthSands Capital
• A former Children's Health allocator launched Gordian Investment Group to chase overlooked secondaries deals
• Record low PE distributions for four straight years are pushing the secondaries market past $250B
• A wave of secondaries closes landed together, led by Adams Street's $5B program and G Squared's $2.3B Fund VII

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Research and Data

• US funds of funds split into five distinct business types, from billion dollar platforms to specialized allocators
• Juniper Square and FundAtlas both launched new platforms to close the GP to LP data gap
• Houlihan Lokey found 2025 PE fundraising fell 33% to ~$414B while secondaries and evergreen AUM hit records
• Women hold just 6% of senior PE roles, contributing to a $1.6T asset management gap
• State Street research found PE has underperformed the S&P 500 across every horizon through Q1 2026
• AlixPartners' 2027 IPEM report found allocators rotating toward mid market funds, co-investments and emerging managers
• 2025 PE returns fell to ~7%, the weakest since 2011, with nearly $850B stuck in aging zombie funds

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Events and Conferences

• Evercore's Private Funds Group published its H1 2026 highlights recap
• A Private Equity Insights Amsterdam panel said LPs now want a distinctive story, not just a strong track record
• KKR's Alisa Wood noted the US has more PE funds than McDonald's restaurants at an IPEM Paris panel
• The Independent Sponsor Forum in Chicago drew over 240 sponsors and capital partners
• The GP LP Summit sold out ahead of a 400 plus attendee gathering in New York
• Institutional Investor's Allocator Choice awards gathered over 100 US CIOs across endowments and pensions
• SuperReturn US West closed with sessions on capital allocation, fund formation and continuation vehicles

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Thanks to Thirupathi Masineni, Michael Huseby, Jordan Silber, Shahrukh Khan, Ed Stubbings, Joseph Argiro, John-Austin Saviano, Ignacio P., Paul Chartier, Jonah Zahnd, Lee McCabe, Justin Gerszonovicz, Jim Shaub, Jayendr Vaibhav, Todd McGee, Hendrik Jordaan, Sasha Jensen, Sara Werner, Blake Evans, Chris McMillan, Jae C., Arun Jain, Anthony Caporrino, Michael Jenson, Rupert Drage, Pranoy Maitra, Marc J. Sharpe, Alexander Sen, Michael McConnell, Brad Hargreaves, David Tanenbaum, Sonia K., Leyla Kunimoto, Pascal Hernalsteen, David Zhou, Paul Stanton, Steven Starr, Jeremy Knox, Alex Robinson, Jim Ferry, Jay Farber, Ashton Simon, Niko Ludwig, Jacques Vermeulen, Will Schryver, James Thomas, Alexander Rayden, Chris Witkowsky, Marco Masotti, Matthew McDonough, Edward Mackenzie Pemberton-Whiteley, Erin Harkless Moore, Jordon Barnett, Ramu Thiagarajan, Vivek Soni, Nicolas Beaugrand, Lou Sokolovskiy, Pravin Sivananthan, Artjom Jalosa, Jordan Pinette, Tridev Budia, Trevor Noren, Evan Dadosky, Tjarda Molenaar, Anikka Villegas, Alex Shevelenko, John Koeppel, Aleksey Chernobelskiy, Vishnu Amble and Mario Peshev, and everyone else who contributed insights to this edition. Find the full list of posts and voices on LinkedIn:

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