Secondary market

June 2019

Thirty years ago, if Limited Partners wanted to sell their interest in a private equity fund, they would have to deal with a range of obstacles, including a General Partner potentially unwilling to allow the transfer, a cumbersome legal transfer process, double digit discounts to stated value, few buyers, few intermediaries, and no real market, among other factors.

Today, these so-called “secondary” transactions occur within a well-functioning market with a myriad of institutional participants and, for private equity funds, that totaled over $65 billion annually.