Private equity fundraising slides again; secondaries hit a record $93B

Private equity fundraising fell for a second straight year in 2025. With Intelligence's annual report counts $398 billion of new capital. That is 14% below 2024. The total sits more than 27% below 2023. Secondaries were the exception. They pulled in $93 billion, a record for the sector. That was 6.6% above the prior year.

The report splits the market in two: established and specialist managers are still raising money, while firms without track records hold assets longer and struggle to find capital. That split shows in buyout funds. The 20 largest buyout funds raised $175 billion. Their share was more than 55% of the category. US managers ran 16 of those funds. Together they took 88% of the capital. Thoma Bravo beat targets, pulling $32.4 billion across a pair of vehicles. Blackstone closed Capital Partners IX at $21.1 billion, below its initial target.

The report's largest tracked allocation went to Melange Capital Partners, a secondaries and structured-solutions shop started in December 2022 by Eric Chang and Brandon Wilson. North Carolina Retirement Systems handed Melange a $2 billion separate managed account focused on traditional energy and energy infrastructure. NCRS also backed the firm's debut commingled fund, which closed on $430 million in November 2025. Chang previously worked in the energy, natural resources, and infrastructure group at Texas TRS.

LPs are routing secondaries money to specialized shops with narrow strategies. With Intelligence expects fundraising to stay difficult for newer and mid-sized firms until deal activity picks up. A $2 billion separate account from one LP is not broad market access.