Note: Red denotes UBS 2H 2025 projection

The secondary market experienced a historic first half of the year, with transaction volume of USD 101 billion representing a 42% increase over the prior year period and nearly 90% of full-year 2023 volume.  

General partner (GP)-led volume accounted for USD 46 billion in 1H 2025, a roughly 60% uptick compared to 1H 2024, driven by a surge in multi-asset continuation fund volume. Limited partner (LP)-led transactions totaled USD 55 billion in volume, fueled by persistent liquidity pressures and portfolio rebalancing needs amid budgetary constraints and regulatory shifts. 

Themes driving secondary market momentum

Growth in GP-led activity

Crowded market dynamics as single and multi-asset transactions gain momentum

  • 1H 2025 saw USD 1+ billion single asset continuation funds return, reflecting sponsor conviction and institutional appetite for concentrated exposure
  • Simultaneously, usage of multi-asset continuation funds accelerated across both the large-cap and middle markets
  • The quality of multi-asset transactions has increased, with a focus on anchoring transactions around high-quality assets

Rise in credit secondaries

Next frontier of market maturation

  • Credit secondaries are entering a formative phase, with meaningful volume across LP-led deals supported by the emergence of a more robust GP-led market
  • As institutional capital begins to mobilize around credit strategies, dedicated credit secondary vehicles are emerging as an attractive entry point, offering differentiated return profiles while mitigating single asset risk
  • UBS PFG expects credit secondaries will continue to increase as a share of overall transaction volume as the market undergoes a maturation phase similar to the private equity (PE) secondary market over the last half-decade

Evolution of the venture capital landscape

Continuation vehicles gain ground in the venture capital (VC) / growth space 

  • Leading VC firms have established a blueprint for continuation funds to unlock liquidity for LPs while facilitating strategic portfolio management
  • Successful blue-chip transactions completed in 2024 have accelerated adoption among a broader set of managers, establishing continuation funds as a normalized feature of the VC playbook
  • Similar to the buyout space, select VC / growth managers with direct investing backgrounds have begun investing in GP-led transactions, which UBS expects will drive further activity and adoption as additional groups establish a buy-side presence

Expansion of retail access

Retail channels expand as sponsors respond to growing demand

  • '40 Act funds and evergreen vehicles have continued to be highly active in GP-led transactions, signaling rising demand from retail-aligned capital sources
  • Secondary fund managers continue to capitalize on this trend by forming vehicles to accommodate retail participation, recognizing their strategic relevance and ability to provide increased flexibility with respect to deal participation
  • As access to retail capital becomes critical, tokenized fund structures could represent the next evolution, offering retail investors a more accessible mechanism to engage with private market assets

Methodology: Reference to market analysis refers to a survey that UBS conducted to solicit feedback on secondary market activity in 1H 2025 as well as market intelligence that UBS has gathered from conversations with secondary investors, publicly available information and transaction activity that UBS was involved with in 1H 2025. Certain statistics shown reflect UBS’s estimates based on data gathered from UBS survey respondents and publicly available information.

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A global private capital advisor integrating world-class private placement expertise with a top-tier secondary advisory platform, raising over USD 91 billion of new money since 2010.

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