What's New While most private equity firms chase thematic trends and rely on financial engineering, Brookfield has built a $12.5 billion PE franchise by running toward complexity and embedding operators directly into deal teams. In a recent Fund Shack  interview, David Nowak, President of Brookfield's Private Equity Group, explained how the firm's "pilot/co-pilot" model pairs investment professionals with career operators on every transaction, producing over 50% of returns fr

What's New Private capital's biggest trade group is abandoning defensive postures in favor of aggressive offense, reframing the industry not as Wall Street extraction but as Main Street job creation. In a recent Fund Shack  interview, Will Dunham, CEO of the American Investment Council, revealed how congressional education campaigns now lead with jobs data rather than returns, handing lawmakers lists of every PE backed company in their districts before asking for anything in

What's Happening Blackstone delivered its third quarter 2025 earnings amid its 40th anniversary celebration, with management declaring the long awaited "deal dam" is finally breaking as capital markets activity resurges and multiple secular growth engines accelerate simultaneously. The quarter demonstrated the firm's unique positioning at the intersection of cyclical recovery and structural transformation in alternatives, with private wealth, insurance, and institutional chan

ClearBridge Investments' 2026 infrastructure outlook highlights that listed infrastructure is benefiting from a convergence of structural tailwinds—AI driven power demand, decarbonization mandates, and aging network replacement—creating what the firm describes as unprecedented regulated earnings growth with visibility extending 7 to 10 years.

Recent bankruptcies like First Brands and Tricolor Food Group are likely "canaries in the coal mine" signaling broader underwriting problems across private credit markets. According to Morningstar's The Long View podcast, private market analyst Leyla Kunimoto argues that a decade of cheap money chasing deals has produced loosened covenants and compromised oversight, with stress now emerging as borrowers struggle under higher rates.

Private credit hits $3.5T but faces first stress test in 16 years as defaults rise and manager selectivity becomes critical.

BlackRock delivered record Q4 2025 results with EPS of $13.16 (beating estimates by 5.79%) and revenue of $7 billion (up 23% YoY), with private markets emerging as the central pillar of its forward strategy. The quarter marks the first full integration of GIP, HPS, and Preqin, positioning BlackRock as a top five alternatives platform with over $675 billion in client assets and a clear runway toward $400 billion in gross private markets fundraising by 2030.

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.