Big picture: a market that’s healing, but not “back to normal”
2026 US Private Equity Outlook
Deal and exit activity in US private equity continued to recover through 2025, helped by multiple Fed rate cuts, stabilizing credit markets, and a tentative reopening of the IPO window. PE deal value through October reached about $970 billion across 7,370 US deals, marking a second consecutive year of year‑over‑year growth.
At the same time, three themes matter most for LPs going into 2026:
Exit timelines are stretching, especially for 2017–2021 vintages.
Fundraising is consolidating into the largest, most established managers.
Sponsors are slowly shifting back toward platform LBOs as credit conditions ease.
Below is the summart of what is seen and how to think about it.
