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Schroders Capital Private Equity Lens Q1 2026
Last year marked a transition from correction to cautious recovery, as fundraising remains muted, supporting attractive entry valuations and a cyclical decoupling from public markets, while deal and exit activity picked up.
Teljes jelentés elolvasásaSchroders Capital Private Equity Lens Q1 2026
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Schroders Capital’s Private Equity Lens provides a data-driven guide to the global private equity market each quarter, covering fundraising, deal and exit activity, and valuation and performance trends across buyouts, growth and venture capital, and global secondaries.
Key takeaways from the Q1 2026 Private Equity Lens are:
- Fundraising was down across buyout and venture/growth in Q4 2025, while the number of fund closes remained broadly stable. This reflects continued cyclical LP selectivity, with future recovery dependent on a broader improvement in distributions.
- Aggregated deal value rebounded in 2025, driven by a small number of large transactions that are in turn supported by gradually improving financing conditions and the US deregulation agenda.
- Exit value also rebounded in H2 2025, driven by a small number of large sponsor-to-sponsor and trade exits. Improving conditions are expected to support a gradual normalisation of activity.
- Entry multiples edged higher in 2025, but small/mid buyouts remained an attractive entry point with multiples 40% below large buyouts and 55% below small-cap public market benchmark.
- Venture capital valuations entered a new upswing in 2025, surpassing prior-cycle peaks amid an uneven recovery led by artificial intelligence-driven late stage megadeals.
- Small and mid-buyouts have delivered the strongest average long-term returns across private equity and public markets, with outperformance extending since the end of 2021, driven by lower entry multiples and greater scope for operational value creation.
- Secondaries continue to grow in prominence in 2025, with record deal volumes across both GP-led and LP-led transactions, and elevated fundraising driven by mega funds.
Teljes jelentés elolvasásaSchroders Capital Private Equity Lens Q1 2026
16 oldalak
Authors
T
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