Finanzinvestoren: Sekundärmarkt-Fonds – die zweifelhaften Retter von Private Equity

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, Harvard Foundation, and Europe's largest pension fund ABP have recently separated parts of their Private Equity portfolios from the secondary market. Buyers of these shares include financial investors like Blackstone, KKR, and Carlyle, many of whom have launched secondary strategies. These investors specifically target Private Equity funds from which other investors wish to exit prematurely.

At first glance, this arrangement benefits both parties: sellers, known as Limited Partners (LPs), avoid waiting for returns from the funds until the end of their term. Buyers, termed General Partners (GPs), gain access to potentially lucrative Private Equity investments at a discount. Despite the rapid growth of this market, traditional Private Equity firms avoided the secondary market for years, considering it a crisis instrument.

However, in the past twelve months through June 2026, the volume of transactions on the secondary market, as reported by investment bank Lazard, reached $260 billion, more than doubling since 2021. Half of this volume consists of LP-led secondary market transactions, where investors redistribute their portfolio shares. Philipp Bunnenberg, a private markets expert at the German Federation of Alternative Investments, explains: "LPs attempt to sell their shares on the secondary market to generate liquidity in their portfolio." The market's boom is fueled by scarce payouts but comes with risks.