Fundraising Takeaways from SuperReturn 2026: Liquidity, Secondaries, and the Evolving Fundraising Landscape

The SuperReturn juggernaut landed back in Berlin last week, once again serving as the private markets industry’s pre-eminent gathering point. With over 6,000 senior investment professionals from more than 80 countries in attendance the conference provided a comprehensive temperature check on the state of private capital at a moment of considerable flux.

From our conversations across panels, bilateral meetings, and networking events, a clear set of themes emerged. If SuperReturn 2025 was defined by cautious optimism and a search for purpose-driven innovation, this year’s conference was animated by something more urgent: a collective preoccupation with liquidity, a maturing secondaries market that has moved firmly into the mainstream, and a fundraising environment that continues to reward operational credibility over narrative. Below, we set out our principal observations.

The Liquidity Imperative: “DPI Is the New IRR”

The dominant theme at SuperReturn 2026 was unambiguous: limited partners want their money back. With PE exit values down approximately 20% year-on-year and distributions to paid-in capital continuing to fall, LPs are increasingly vocal in demanding a credible path to liquidity before entertaining new fund commitments. The mantra “DPI is the new IRR” echoed through virtually every LP-focused panel.  

This theme appears not merely rhetorical. GPs face mounting pressure to monetize a substantial backlog of 2021-vintage deals, even where realizations may not achieve peak valuations. The message from allocators was consistent: demonstrated ability to return capital is now the single most important factor in re-up decisions. Complex financial engineering or paper markups are not sufficient - LPs want tangible evidence of exit execution. For fund managers approaching the market for successor vehicles, this dynamic is reshaping the fundraising conversation in fundamental ways.

Continuation Vehicles Come of Age 

If liquidity was the conference’s defining concern, the secondaries market was its most celebrated solution. The maturation of GP-led transactions and continuation vehicles (CVs) was perhaps the most significant structural theme at this year’s event.  

The numbers underscore the momentum. GP-led transaction volume reached approximately $116 billion in 2025, representing a 53% year-over-year increase, with CVs accounting for 86% of that activity. Total secondary market transactions are estimated to have reached $226 billion in 2025, and the market is projected to reach $400 billion by 2030.

CVs now account for nearly a fifth of all PE exits, with that proportion expected to grow further in 2026. Bain & Company data presented at the conference indicated that a quarter of GPs have recently initiated or completed a CV, with 40% expecting to explore one within the next one to two years.

Notably, the CV model is expanding well beyond its PE buyout origins into private credit, infrastructure, and venture capital. Private credit secondaries alone are projected to reach $40 billion by 2027. We also observed the emergence of specialist funds focused exclusively on acquiring CV interests, a sign of further institutionalization.

Yet the market’s rapid growth brings governance and process challenges squarely into focus. Panelists and participants highlighted concerns around transparency in GP-led processes, adherence to ILPA guidelines, competitive bidding standards, the role of fairness opinions, and the management of conflicts of interest. Information asymmetry between GPs and LPs, pressure on LPs to make rapid decisions within tight election windows, and questions around GP carry rollover remain areas of active discussion. 

With secondaries dry powder standing at approximately $215 billion, representing less than one year’s supply, the market remains arguably under-funded relative to anticipated deal flow, suggesting continued structural tailwinds but also heightened scrutiny of execution standards.

Private Credit and the Evergreen Fund Conundrum

Private credit faced more searching questions in Berlin than at any point in recent memory. In the past year, several major managers have restricted redemptions amid concerns about liquidity mismatches in semi-liquid and evergreen structures.  The broader question of evergreen and open-ended fund structures loomed large. 

These vehicles, estimated to account for 20% of total private markets capital by 2035, have been instrumental in expanding the investor base to include private wealth and ultra-high-net-worth allocators through ELTIFs, LTAFs, and model portfolios. However, the tension between periodic liquidity promises and illiquid underlying assets is now plainly visible.  The consensus was that clearer investor education, more robust gating mechanisms, and realistic expectations about liquidity windows are essential if these structures are to continue to build credibility with a broader investor base.

Fundraising Challenges, Consolidation, and Operational Differentiation

Fundraising remains a challenging environment across most fund sizes and strategies.  LPs expressed fatigue with repositioned generalist platforms with the mid-market continuing to represent the strongest growth area, perceived as nimbler, more aligned, and less exposed to the macroeconomic headwinds affecting larger transactions.

Industry consolidation continues apace: liquid managers are acquiring illiquid platforms, private equity firms are expanding into credit, and insurers are entering direct lending. The GP-stake market shows no sign of slowing. At the same time, the number of “zombie” fund managers – those unable to raise successor vehicles or achieve meaningful exits – is growing, a consequence of the protracted exit drought.

A notable corollary of the current environment is a renewed emphasis on operational value creation. With leverage-driven returns and multiple expansion increasingly difficult to achieve, GPs are differentiating themselves through demonstrable portfolio company improvement: operational depth, margin expansion, and strategic repositioning. LPs are scrutinising track records more closely than ever, and the ability to articulate a genuine value-add thesis – rather than simply deploying capital at scale – is becoming decisive in allocation decisions.

Technology Repricing and the AI Opportunity

The software selloff of early 2026, which saw approximately $300 billion of market value evaporate across SaaS and software companies in Q1, cast a long shadow over the conference. Private equity firms invested over $1 trillion in software over the past five years, with many deals struck at rich 2021 valuations. Several managers commented on having been forced to pull planned exits of software assets and LPs openly noted that they have “enough software exposure” and are seeking diversification.

Conversely, artificial intelligence is reshaping the industry’s approach to deal sourcing, portfolio management, and exit planning. AI resilience has become a valuation factor in its own right, with businesses subject to structural repricing based on their positioning relative to AI disruption. European technology, in particular, is attracting significant capital, with AI-native businesses raising substantial rounds and offering an alternative to the saturated US market.

Looking Ahead

SuperReturn 2026 reflected an industry navigating a period of significant structural adjustment. The liquidity imperative is reshaping GP-LP dynamics in ways that will persist well beyond the current cycle, and the secondaries market – continuation vehicles in particular – has cemented its position as a critical component of the private markets toolkit.  

For fund managers, the path to successful fundraising runs through demonstrated exit execution, operational credibility, and a willingness to embrace innovative liquidity solutions. For investors, the challenge lies in balancing the desire for distributions with continued exposure to compelling long-term return opportunities. 

We look forward to continuing these conversations with our clients as the market evolves in the months ahead.

Please click here and here for more of our takeaways from the SuperReturn International 2026 Conference.

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