Broader economic uncertainty is weighing on the private equity market—and forcing the industry to get creative when it comes to liquidity solutions.
“We ended 2023 with a hopeful view, and we’ve seen some growth although it’s been slower than anticipated,” says Jessica Mead, regional executive of North America at fund administrator Alter Domus. “The middle market has been directly impacted by the wider slowdown in the PE fundraising market generally.”hen the curtain began to close on the 2024 calendar year and M&A industry experts kicked off the tried and- true practice of prognosticating about the year ahead, there was an overwhelming sense of familiarity— predictions virtually identical to those made at the end of 2023. Though there are minor differences in what individual managers and investors expect from the marketplace in the coming months, dealmakers and advisors agree that everyone is still waiting for the surge of deal activity that was expected in 2024.