➔ Executive summary.
Private capital fundraising in 2024 and beyond
It was another tough year for private capital fundraising in 2024, with both the number of funds closed globally and capital committed by LPs down on 2023, Preqin data shows. Meanwhile, industry insiders pointed to slow M&A activity constricting distribution and stunting fundraising momentum.
For GPs, 2024 was marked by consolidation, deals taking longer to get done, and some in the industry struggling to demonstrate performance. GPs with funds in market will be hoping for an improvement in 2025.
Closer analysis of the data shows a refresh is underway, and pockets of positivity are beginning to emerge that will define the next era. GPs have turned to creative liquidity solutions like continuation funds to ease the squeeze, underscoring a surge in secondaries activity. If this were to continue into 2025, then it could prove a boon for much-needed capital recycling.
➝ The number of private capital funds closed globally was less than half that of 2021 and fell by almost a quarter year on year in 2024 to the lowest total since 2014.
➝ Aggregate capital raised in 2024 was down by almost a quarter on 2023.
➝ The largest decrease in the number of funds closed year over year in 2024 was in APAC, followed by Europe. Meanwhile, North America remained relatively resilient.
➝ In 2024, just over half of committed capital went to the 100 biggest funds by aggregate capital raised at final close.1 This contrasts with the market-high year of 2021, when more than a third went to the biggest 100 funds.
1. To test consolidation in fundraising, we carved the fundraising landscape into five buckets by fund size: the biggest 1-50 funds; 51-100; 101-200; 2001-300; 301-all and looked back at the natural migration of capital to the bigger managers over the decade.