Introduction
Several pressures shaping private equity are becoming more pronounced in 2026. Deals are taking longer to complete and median holding periods remain above five years, leaving a sizeable backlog of mature portfolio companies still awaiting exit.
At the same time, pockets of deal activity are accelerating, particularly across industrials and infrastructure-linked subindustries.
Fundraising has improved but remains concentrated among larger managers and funds, while secondaries continue to grow as an important source of liquidity. Investor behavior is shifting accordingly: large allocators are deepening relationships with high-conviction managers, while buyout and growth strategies continue to attract the greatest interest.
Across the market, the tension between deploying new capital and generating liquidity from existing portfolios is likely to remain one of the defining private equity trends of 2026.
Deal activity: Time to close
Deal execution speed is slowing
Private equity firms now require more time to move transactions from initial discussions to closing, reflecting a more challenging dealmaking environment.
Across North American private equity acquisitions of all sizes, sectors and transaction types, the median time to close was typically around 200–220 days between 2018 and 2021. More recently, this has increased to approximately 245–275 days, or around 8.5 months.
North American deals took a median 274 days to close in Q2 2026 — roughly nine months.
Deal activity: Growth sectors
Deal activity accelerates across 30 subindustries
Across all buyer types, deal sizes and transaction structures involving North American targets, first-half 2026 deal activity has already exceeded second-half 2025 levels across 30 subindustries. Of these, 12 recorded at least a doubling in deal volume, including five within the industrials sector.
Industrials accounted for one-third of the 30 subindustries reporting increased activity, highlighting the sector’s broad-based momentum. Deal activity is also strengthening among companies exposed to infrastructure, logistics, and aerospace and defense, as geopolitical uncertainty, political instability and ongoing conflicts continue to influence investment priorities and support demand across these areas.
Holding period
Holding periods remain elevated as backlog grows
Following the dealmaking boom of 2021, the slowdown in merger and acquisition activity, compounded by heightened macroeconomic uncertainty since 2024, has extended private equity holding periods and created a growing backlog of mature portfolio companies awaiting exit.
Median holding periods now typically exceed five years, compared with approximately 4.0 to 4.5 years in 2018 and 2019. While the gap between sectors exceeded 1.5 years in 2023, holding periods have since converged as exit conditions have become challenging across the market.
Pre-exit holding periods for consumer portfolio companies have fallen from 6.1 years in 2023 to 5.2 years, while business services and technology now record the longest median holding periods at 5.3 years, despite historically being among the shortest-held sectors.
Industrials is the only sector below five years, at 4.9 years, potentially reflecting stronger buyer demand linked to its importance across defense, infrastructure and data-related industries. This momentum is also evident in recent deal activity, with five of the 12 fastest-growing subindustries coming from industrials.
PortCo and RVPI/TVPI
Unrealized value declines but remains elevated
Aging portfolio companies are creating uneven exit pressure and potential deal supply across the market. Industrial goods, healthcare providers and services, and consumer durables and apparel have high concentrations of assets held for at least seven years, indicating a larger backlog of mature companies that could come to market.
Industrial goods stands out for both current deal volume and future supply: around one-third of its portfolio companies have been held for at least seven years, while the remainder have shorter holding periods. Its declining median holding period suggests that exits are already progressing, while the pool of mature assets should continue to support deal flow.
By contrast, software, construction, facility management, and IT services are more concentrated in assets held for four to six years and may face less immediate exit pressure. Software nevertheless has a sizeable future pipeline, including 615 portfolio companies acquired since the pandemic. Although software assets have historically returned to market more quickly, exits may be more challenging for companies acquired at elevated valuations. Overall, differences in portfolio maturity and acquisition conditions are likely to shape the timing and strength of future deal activity across sectors.
Fund-level data shows some progress. Between the end of 2024 and the end of 2025, RVPI as a share of TVPI declined across most fund groups while DPI increased, indicating that more value was realized and returned to investors. The 2014 vintage recorded a decline of 8 percentage points in its RVPI share. However, the backlog still remains, especially for recent vintages.
Fundraising
Fundraising shows signs of recovery in 2026
Private equity fundraising showed signs of life in the first half of the year, with managers closing $312 billion in capital commitments – more than halfway to last year’s total figure of $490 billion.
Fundraising remains concentrated, with the top 20 funds by size accounting for $171 billion, making up more than half the capital closed in H1 2026. These include vehicles from blue-chip names such as KKR, EQT, Clearlake and Blackstone, demonstrating that investors continue to gravitate towards global multi-asset managers.
With median holding periods now reaching more than five years, allocators are increasingly emphasizing a need for liquidity and backing managers with strong distributions to paid-in capital.
Secondaries
Secondaries remain important driver of fundraising
Following strong activity in 2024 and 2025, first-half 2026 data indicates that secondaries fundraising is likely to remain elevated.
In H1 2026, the asset class surpassed $50 billion in fundraising, accounting for just over 15% of all private equity fundraising and supporting our forecast that global commitments could exceed $100 billion this year. Over half of the amount was raised by two funds: Coller International Partners IX ($17 billion) and the Partners Group Secondary VIII ($9 billion).
Fundraising in the first half was 62% higher than in the same period of 2023 and more than double the level recorded in 2022. Transaction volumes reached $121 billion in H1 2026, according to Evercore data, the strongest first half recorded, with market participants expecting record volumes of $250 billion to $270 billion by year-end.
With the subdued IPO market continuing to limit traditional exit routes, secondaries remain an increasingly important source of liquidity for private equity investors. GP-led transactions continue to account for around half of private equity secondaries volume, reflecting the growing use of continuation funds.
Several secondaries mega funds continue to raise capital, with the five largest funds targeting at least $89 billion in capital commitments between them. Firms leaning into secondaries include HarbourVest, which is seeking $20 billion for Dover Street Fund XII, while CVC is targeting over $7 billion for its sixth vintage secondaries fund.
Mandates: Managers
Francisco Partners pulls ahead in mandate wins
San Francisco-headquartered Francisco Partners leads peers in 2026 by both mandate count and value, thanks to a double offering of the firm’s flagship buyout and companion ‘Agility’ series to investors.
Kingswood Capital Management, the smallest manager by AuM in the top 10 by some distance, maintains its record as a strong fundraiser – it has 12 awarded mandates this year worth more than a quarter of firmwide AuM.
European managers HgCapital and EQT Partners, headquartered in London and Stockholm, respectively, have also demonstrated their capability to attract mandates so far this year.
Mandates: Investors
Big allocators scale up with favored managers
While slow distributions continue to be a concern across the US pension system, the industry’s largest allocators have the additional challenge of scaling commitments. Strategic partnerships have become increasingly important as institutions look for more collaborative relationships with their highest-conviction managers, hoping to secure favorable terms and get early access to co-investment opportunities. The largest of CalPERS’ 62 mandates recorded in H1, for example, went to longstanding existing managers, such as Bain Capital and Arlington Capital.
That said, some large allocators continue to hire new fund managers in less competitive areas of the market. Texas Teachers, for instance, committed some 40% of its private equity spend in H1 to new managers as part of an effort to grow their small/mid-market buyout exposure. Managing director Neil Randall said in July that firms with less than $3 billion in assets were ideal: “We think there is more alpha potential there and we have the team to execute on it.”
Co-investments have become an integral part of America’s most sophisticated institutions both to enhance returns and issue larger tickets. Large allocators now dedicate substantial portions of their annual private equity spend to co-investment opportunities. CalSTRS, for example, aims to co-invest one-third of its pacing target for this year.
Investor intentions
Investors remain positive but weigh up exit liquidity
For many institutions, the most pressing question in private equity remains how – and when – they’ll get their money back. While investor sentiment towards private equity remains generally strong, slow distributions – caused primarily by high interest rates – have forced allocators to factor exit liquidity into future commitments. Some have moved downmarket as a result, with lower and lower-middle-market companies benefiting from a wider range of exit options than their larger counterparts.
Buyouts remain the staple for institutional investors, but interest in growth equity has risen as allocators look to capitalize on the AI boom without the high risk of earlier-stage venture capital. But some investors are wary of recent history for the sector. In April, Lehigh University CIO Mike Gould told us he took a “profit-first” approach, as opposed to the market’s tendency towards “highly unprofitable companies at elevated valuations, where outcomes are heavily dependent on sustaining aggressive growth assumptions.”
As our 2026 annual outlook predicted, some smaller allocators are using the secondary market to backfill vintages and kickstart new portfolios. Detroit Police & Fire, for example, plans to commit up to a third of its annual private equity spend on secondaries on the advice of Hamilton Lane. By contrast, some larger investors are selling their positions to trim exposure and create room for additional deployment.
Investment intentions among US public pensions picked up substantially in Q1, as more allocators returned to market following a comparably slow 2025. Despite frequent discussions in investor meetings over private equity secondaries, investor interest remains roughly consistent with the 2025 average. Investors are demonstrating an increased appetite for growth capital, as pensions hunt for exposure to the AI boom.
Methodology
This report draws on proprietary With Intelligence by S&P Global data covering private equity deal activity, portfolio holding periods, fundraising, mandates and investor intentions. Analysis uses data available through H1 or Q2 2026, with trends assessed against comparable historical periods where available.
With Intelligence is part of S&P Global, delivering end-to-end coverage across the alternatives marketplace. With Intelligence’s proprietary data spans a uniquely comprehensive view of private market activity and relationships, including robust, direct-from-investor allocation data and benchmarking capabilities. We are here to help you leverage comprehensive, connected and actionable private markets intelligence.
