January 2026 Report:
Private Equity 2026 Outlook

Explore the forces shaping private equity dealmaking, exits, and fundraising in 2026, including the industry’s push into private wealth, the expanding role of secondaries in providing liquidity, and the risks and opportunities emerging from the AI investment cycle.

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What’s inside the report
  • Moving into 2026, private equity is armed with all the ingredients to build on 2025’s momentum. There is abundant dry powder, thousands of companies poised for transactions, and well-functioning credit markets.
  • As robust investor demand for assets tied to the AI infrastructure buildout keeps valuations elevated, sponsors may rotate away from richly valued operating platforms and toward secondary and adjacent data center segments.
  • In Europe, a new era of rearmament is taking shape. Rising defense budgets across Eastern Europe will drive significant investment throughout the region.
  • While exits recovered meaningfully in 2025, the overhang from the 2021–2022 vintages continues to weigh on the industry, with secondaries set to play an ongoing role in clearing the backlog as organic exit routes reopen.
  • The fundraising environment remains challenging and sharply bifurcated. Both private equity and venture ended the year at five-year lows, with capital continuing to concentrate among a small group of established, brand-name firms.
  • As institutional allocations plateau, private equity sponsors are launching evergreen products to capture the sizable private wealth and retail opportunity set. However, these funds require significant operational sophistication, particularly around cash flow management and valuations.

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