Total secondaries market volume rose 48% in 2025, adding to the 45% increase reported for 2024, according to the Jefferies Global Secondary Market Review published earlier this week. Notably, LP volume reached a record $125 billion with 40% of transactions coming from first-time participants.
Another strong appearance by first-time LP sellers reflects not opportunistic rebalancing, but a structural response to prolonged cash-flow uncertainty that has extended private market duration beyond what conventional portfolio tools can absorb.
This note outlines the growing importance of LP-led secondaries in light of the ongoing distribution drought, the historic constraints inherent in the sale of private fund interests, and the outlook for growth. While capital circulation in private markets is likely to improve in 2026, LP-led secondaries are positioned to expand further given the inherent limitations of conventional portfolio duration management tools, structural evolution in transaction design, shifts in LP portfolio management, and the opportunity for fund finance to support liquidity.
In net asset value (“NAV”) financings, a payment direction letter (“PDL”) is a useful tool that may be entered into in order to control the flow of cash from the underlying portfolio investments directly to a lender controlled account.
Walkers Partner Justin Hart and Senior Counsel Sarah Dombowsky author "Bankruptcy remoteness for Cayman drop-down SPVs: A practical refresher for fund finance."
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Cadwalader has advised Ares Alternative Credit funds (Ares), affiliates of leading global alternative investment manager Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES), in connection with the capitalization of HarbourVest Partners Structured Solutions 2025, an investment vehicle with the capacity to invest $1.1 billion into diversified secondary investments in private equity and private credit.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP advised Barings in connection with an investment grade rated financing to support a $365 million investment in Partners Group Private Loans SICAV SIF, an evergreen private credit vehicle focused on direct lending opportunities globally.