What does the "new era" of private equity look like?
This week at PEI NEXUS, Bain & Company's Chairman of Global Private Equity Practice Hugh MacArthur recapped the firm's latest Global Private Equity Report.
Hugh noted that firms will need to focus on what they do well in a “new era” for private equity.
These sentiments echoed much of what Private Wealth Forum speakers, including Arax Investment Partners Founder and CEO Haig Ariyan, Laird Norton Wetherby CIO Ron Albahary, CFA, Ardian Managing Director, US Private Wealth Solutions Ava Mallin, and Citi Wealth Head of Private Equity and Real Estate Jeffrey Locke, shared on stage at PEI.
This week's AGM Alts Weekly dives into what a "new era" in private equity might look like, connecting dots and data points from Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company's 2026 reports on the state of the private equity industry.
Some key themes defined the takeaways from both reports:
➡️ Returns will not be a dime a dozen: Bain's punchline? "12 is the new 5."
➡️ Megadeals, big questions: 2025 witnessed an increase in global buyout deal value. However, just 13 deals of $10B or more contributed 69% of the growth in 2025, accounting for $274B of the global gain.
➡️ A K-shaped industry: Private equity appears to turning into a K-shaped industry, with “a subset of elite funds [being] on the upswing while everyone else muddles through.”
➡️ No fun in fundraising: McKinsey noted that core, closed-end fundraising has “become more competitive, selective, and time consuming.”
➡️ Continuation nation: There’s been a marked rise in continuation vehicle activity, but only represents less than 10% of exit value.
➡️ Mid-sized deals not so mid: Megadeal activity grabbed the headlines. But deal sizes $1-5B deals grew 29%. Growth in the $1-5B deal size segment could be encouraging for specialist buyout funds.
There are some key questions for allocators to grapple with as they think about what private equity might look like in the future.
1️⃣ Do allocators believe public markets will continue to outperform private markets?
2️⃣ Will fundraising bounce back?
3️⃣ Can firms kick value creation into motion?
4️⃣ Are both GPs and LPs ready to handle how investors might look to exit evergreen vehicles?
5️⃣ For LPs, are they finding managers that have an edge?
Read on for more👇
This week's Alt Goes Mainstream's AGM Alts Weekly, brought to you by DealsPlus, covers:
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