Jessica Hamlin

Sellers are increasingly willing to cut their losses, while buyers' appetite for risk is starting to return.

A common, if oversimplified, view is that PE funds invest based on numbers, VC funds based on narrative.

The Greenwich Economic Forum is hosted at the Delamar Greenwich Harbor Hotel in Greenwich, CT. Denis Tangney Jr/Getty Images

More LPs are using secondary-market valuations to help determine how accurately GPs mark their assets. For some institutional investors, the conclusions they reach are influencing how they deploy capital, according to several advisers in the market. The secondary market has grown strongly over the past few years, capitalizing on the PE industry’s exit drought and LP demands for distributions. In H1 2026, secondary market transaction volume reached around $121 billion, up 19% from the same period

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas sold an approximately $1 billion chunk of fund stakes as part of a plan to reduce its private equity exposure, according to people familiar with the matter.

The CEO of $49 billion investment manager GI Partners has departed the firm after barely a year in the job. The firm accepted the resignation of Travis Pearson, who was also head of private equity, in early October, according to people familiar with the matter. Pearson took the top job in September, 2025. The resignation came just weeks before the firm’s private equity annual general meeting, when the San Francisco-based firm had planned to announce the start of fundraising for its seventh PE fu

Secondary funds have proved a useful source of liquidity for limited partners contending with lengthening hold periods of PE-backed companies.

In recent years, continuation funds and portfolio sales have stepped in to fill the liquidity hole left behind by sluggish traditional exit routes.

Fee-free co-investment is central to driving down the costs of PE investing for institutional investors. But the growing continuation fund market threatens their ability to hold onto these hard-earned economic rights. The most sophisticated pension fund managers, such as CPP Investments, have long track records of investing directly into companies alongside PE fund managers on a no-fee, no-carry basis. Many more are fighting for a piece of the action, even if it means paying up. LPs increasingly

The 22-deal package was priced at around a 20% discount, with KKR the largest sponsor represented.