Post by Thomas Allgeyer

PE has invented buying itself. Continuation vehicles hit $106B in 2025. We'd ask any GP one question: who set the price? This edition is brought to you in partnership with Informa. Don't miss their upcoming conferences - September to November will be extensive! 72 posts. 35 new voices. Here is what caught our attention.   Fund manager-led secondary volume hit $106B in 2025, up from $70B in 2024, according to Evercore, a jump Claymore Partners calls a symptom of overpaid entry multiples finally coming due The SEC is reportedly investigating how GPs price continuation vehicles, manage conflicts of interest, and disclose terms to investors sitting on both sides of the same deal Execution has become the trait separating today's top performers, per FTI Consulting's 2026 Value Creation Index, which found 53% of high performers exceeded expectations against 27% of the field Most GPs still can't back up the value they claim to have created: EY's Global PE Exit Readiness Study found 86% see improved valuations from early exit prep, but only 28% can prove it with clean data DACH capital is concentrating in defense and security niches, according to Carlsquare's Q1 2026 report, even as overall deal count in the region fell 18% year over year PitchBook's Q2 2026 data puts exit value down 19.7% quarter over quarter to $275B, with continuation vehicles increasingly doing the job exits used to do.   Our takeaway: Discipline has quietly become the only strategy left standing. Featured read: Aaron G. lays out why AI is quietly eroding traditional PE advantages. Diligence keeps converging while asset prices keep climbing, and the funds still winning treat AI as an operating tool, not a research shortcut. Good read for anyone thinking about where PE value creation goes next. Thanks for sharing your insights with us!