What's New Blue Owl Capital has nearly doubled its assets under management from $160 billion to almost $300 billion since March 2024, with the wealth channel serving as a central driver of this expansion. In a recent Alt Goes Mainstream podcast interview , Sean Connor, President & CEO of Global Private Wealth at Blue Owl, revealed that the firm's evergreen fund flows have grown 2.5x over three years while simultaneously diversifying beyond direct lending into asset-based fina

What's New Bain & Company's Global Healthcare Private Equity Report 2026  reveals that global healthcare private equity delivered a record-breaking performance in 2025, with disclosed deal value exceeding an estimated $191 billion—surpassing the previous high set in 2021—while deal volume hit 445 buyouts, marking the second-highest annual total on record despite a second-quarter tariff-related pause. Why It Matters The record performance signals sustained investor confidenc

Private credit tops $1.7T globally, reshaping bank competition while supporting CRE valuations—but recession risks loom.

Secondaries, CRE debt, and infrastructure emerge as top picks as valuations reset and manager selection becomes critical.

What's New With Intelligence's Private Credit Outlook 2026  reveals that the asset class enters 2026 confronting its most challenging environment since the financial crisis, with cracks emerging in corporate credit evidenced by high-profile leveraged loan defaults, rising PIK usage now at 8% of BDC investment income, and a "true" default rate approaching 5% when selective defaults are included—setting the stage for over $100 billion in recently raised distressed and opportun

Private credit eyes LBO rebound as transparency demands intensify and mega-funds consolidate market share.

Preqin's Global Reports 2026 forecasts private markets entering the new year with cautious optimism and resilient long-term growth prospects across all major asset classes. The research firm projects private equity AUM approaching $12 trillion and private credit reaching $4.5 trillion by 2030, while infrastructure is set to nearly triple toward $3 trillion—with Europe leading that growth trajectory despite near-term deployment challenges and elevated interest rates constraini

Private capital hits $22T as investors flee broken stock-bond correlation; Q3 2025 PE deals reach highest since Q4 2021.

Morningstar's 2026 Global Outlook Report identifies private markets as the next frontier in portfolio construction, with semiliquid fund assets reaching nearly $450 billion through June 2025—up 77% since 2022—as new vehicle structures and regulatory support make private equity, credit, and real assets accessible to individual investors and retirement plans for the first time at scale.

What's New PitchBook's 2026 US Venture Capital Outlook forecasts a counterintuitive surge in early-stage deal activity despite sluggish fundraising, driven by multistage firms deploying aggressive seed strategies and AI capturing an unprecedented 65% of total deal value. First-time financing activity through Q3 2025 was just 200 deals behind 2021's record pace, defying expectations for a liquidity-constrained market. Why It Matters The fundamental structure of venture dealm

PitchBook's 2026 US Private Equity Outlook forecasts continued consolidation of fundraising power among top firms and a strategic return to platform LBOs, expected to capture 25% or more of deal activity as financing conditions improve. Through October, platform LBOs accounted for $525.3 billion in deal value—the highest since the 2021 peak.

PitchBook's 2026 EMEA Private Capital Outlook projects the ratio of PE-backed companies to public companies in Europe will hit a record 2.3x, up from 2.1x at end of 2025. Since 2014, PE-backed companies have doubled to roughly 13,800, while publicly listed firms have stagnated between 5,700 and 7,000 for two decades.

PitchBook's 2026 APAC Private Capital Outlook forecasts a monetary easing cycle that will drive deal momentum, with a moderate 10-20% YoY increase in exit value achievable. Through Q3 2025, PE exit value reached $106 billion—already surpassing full-year 2024—while VC exit value hit $90 billion, up sharply from $52.7 billion over the same period last year.

What's New PitchBook's 2026 Artificial Intelligence Outlook declares the start of "The Great Competition Wars," identifying sectors where AI will generate outsized returns and others where overheating will destroy value. Winners will pursue network effects, unique data moats, exceptional design, and creative distribution strategies—while undifferentiated startups face "disproportionate value destruction." Why It Matters We are in the early stages of a 50-year technological

What's New PitchBook's 2026 Healthcare Outlook calls this "one of the best investing opportunities we have seen in decades" across healthcare subsectors. AI is improving Phase I trial success rates from ~52% to ~80%, potentially more than doubling overall approval likelihood—with early-stage assets that have been "capital-deprived" offering the greatest return profiles. Why It Matters After pandemic-induced capital misallocation, healthcare is structurally de-risking. The r

PitchBook's 2026 Industry PE Outlook provides a sector-by-sector roadmap, highlighting commercial aerospace parts, electrical engineering for datacenters, and health & wellness as top investment targets. Platform LBOs are expected to capture 25%+ of deal activity, signaling a return to scale-building strategies.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management's 2026 Investment Outlook reveals that private equity valuations have reached record highs at the median, while roughly 15% of private credit borrowers can't cover interest payments—signaling that manager selection and disciplined underwriting will separate winners from losers as exit activity accelerates.

In a recent interview on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast, Oaktree co-CEO Armen Panossian outlined the firm's defensive positioning ahead of an expected uptick in private credit defaults, warning that the 2018-2021 vintage of leveraged buyouts represents the market's soft underbelly as weak credits face a "day of reckoning" in 2027—while simultaneously highlighting asset-backed finance as a multi-trillion dollar opportunity created by banking sector retreat.

Vista's $100B software factory bets AI is "food not threat"—building GenAI transformation capability to capture middle market opportunity.

The distinction between public and private markets—liquid vs. illiquid, transparent vs. opaque, accessible vs. exclusive—collapsed in 2025. Apollo's Scott Kleinman called it "irreversible." Goldman Sachs' Marc Nachmann described a "continuum" replacing the old binary. J.P. Morgan declared private markets "essential infrastructure." Infrastructure to trade private assets like public securities is now being built. Retail investors are gaining access to asset classes once reserv