October 2025

With US equity markets advancing on expectations of monetary easing and robust corporate earnings, hedge funds generally performed well, with the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index up 2.4% for the month. Equity managers were not the best-performing strategy, coming in second with the HFRI Equity Hedge (Total) Index up 2.6%.

Litigation funding is not new. It involves a third party, unconnected to a legal claim, providing financial support for part or all the costs of pursuing it in return for a pre-agreed fee, payable only if the claim succeeds. The model is well established in the UK and US and has become increasingly attractive to global investors seeking to diversify.

The modern-day gold rush is no doubt an AI-driven mad dash to investments in data centers. So far, companies are on a tear to build these hubs to meet AI demand. Consensus estimates are hard to come by, but Microsoft alone intends to spend $80 billion this year, and some speculate capex numbers between $400 billion to $500 billion in 2025.

The private markets secondary industry has expanded significantly over the past decade. What started as a niche corner of private equity is now a global market of around USD 160 billion in 2024, according to Setter Capital. Activity has spread into private credit, infrastructure, real estate, hedge funds and other areas.

The prolonged dormancy of the exit market is leaving investors without cash to commit to new opportunities, in turn putting increased pressure on private equity managers to increase distributions to their investors. Necessity is the mother of invention, and we are currently seeing a fertile period for innovation in the secondaries market.

LP-led secondary transactions continue to make up a significant portion of overall transaction volume in the secondaries market. Institutional investors and other limited partners access the secondary market for a number of reasons: for portfolio management, to rebalance allocations and for liquidity management.

The secondaries market is experiencing rapid expansion with transaction volume in the first half of 2025 surpassing $100 billion, a more than 50% increase from H1 2024. Activity has been propelled by more limited partner portfolio sales, a broader set of general partner led solutions, and a well-funded buyer base.

Investor appetite for long-dated infrastructure credit remains strong, with Brookfield announcing a first close of over $4 billion for its latest vehicle, Brookfield Infrastructure Debt Fund IV. This fund will provide long-term, risk-adjusted financing to infrastructure assets that generate predictable cash flows.

Bain Capital closed its 14th private equity fund at $14 billion, exceeding its initial $10 billion target. The vehicle drew $11.8 billion from external investors, with Bain contributing the remainder; its largest ever GP commitment. The fund will target opportunities across healthcare, technology and financial services globally.

Abu Dhabi's ambitions in alternative investments are not slowing down, with MGX reportedly preparing a $25 to $50 billion raise for its debut private equity fund targeting AI infrastructure and semiconductors. Backed by sovereign investor Mubadala, MGX will target AI infrastructure, data centres, semiconductors and adjacent technologies.

Monterro closed its fifth flagship vehicle, Monterro Fund V, at its €1.375 billion hard cap, just over four months after entering the market. The Nordic-focused private equity manager, known for its buyout and growth investments in B2B software, also raised a €350 million growth fund, taking total new commitments to €1.725 billion.

Ridgemont Equity Partners closed its fifth flagship buyout fund at $3.975 billion, surpassing the $2.75 billion target to hit its hard cap. Charlotte-based Ridgemont focuses on middle-market growth and buyout opportunities, and is typically looking to invest $50 million to $500 million of equity per transaction.

Galvanize Climate Solutions has raised $1.3 billion for a credit investment strategy designed to fill financing gaps in energy transition. The platform, co-founded by former presidential candidate Tom Steyer, is offering structured credit to renewable and decarbonisation projects. The fund is anchored by a single unnamed large institutional investor.

Avenue Capital Group closed its Avenue Sports Fund, with commitments exceeding $1 billion. The vehicle is investing across the sports sector, with a flexible mandate that spans both equity and debt to back professional teams, leagues and sports-adjacent businesses in an industry undergoing rapid transformation.

Meridiam closed Infrastructure North America Fund V at approximately $1.8 billion. The Paris-based firm, founded in 2005, specialises in sustainable, long-term infrastructure, and this latest fundraise exceeds the size of its predecessor, Fund IV, which closed at $1.2 billion.

Stonepeak is fundraising for its second Asia Infrastructure Fund, Stonepeak Asia Infrastructure Fund II, targeting $4 billion, reflecting the surging demand for infrastructure exposure in Asia. The firm's first Asia vehicle closed at $3 billion in 2021.

Growing deal flow and record secondary volumes have prompted HG to explore launching a dedicated secondaries strategy. According to reports, the London-based firm is exploring a dedicated strategy to capitalise on the growing deal flow, which reached a record $102 billion in the first half of 2025.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, committed $1.5 billion to Brookfield Asset Management's Global Transition Fund II, its first investment in a dedicated energy-transition vehicle. The fund will deploy capital globally into renewable energy infrastructure and sustainable solutions.

The largest private-equity-led buyout in history was announced as Electronic Arts agreed to a $55 billion all-cash leveraged buyout. A big hitting consortium of investors, Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and Affinity Partners, is backing this landmark deal.

D.E. Shaw is looking to raise over $3 billion for its Cogency Fund, the firm's first discretionary hedge fund. Better known for its quantitative strategies, the launch is a shift for the quant firm. According to reports, investor interest has been strong, reflecting a broader trend of allocating to discretionary strategies.

Mounting industry pressures and subdued returns have led Edward Eisler to shutter his decade-old hedge fund. Bloomberg, which first reported the story as an exclusive, noted that the firm has begun winding down after years of mixed performance, rising costs, and falling investor confidence.

In a year when traditional exits remain subdued, the secondaries market has surged to record-breaking heights. Global secondaries volumes hit $103bn in H1 2025, a 51% year-on-year rise and the busiest half-year ever, according to Secondaries Investor and Jefferies. LP-led deals dominated, with $56 billion.

Persistent undervaluation and thin liquidity on the London Stock Exchange has driven Goldman Sachs backed Petershill Partners to go private. Despite reporting a 9% year-on-year increase in partner distributable earnings to $152 million and adjusted profit after tax of $124 million in H1 2025, its shares continued to underperform.

On 1 September 2025, the FCA published its latest IFPR Newsletter, highlighting a number of prudential issues affecting investment firms subject to IFPR. While much of the publication was not ground shaking news, the themes highlight an ongoing focus from the FCA. With IFPR no longer a new regulation, the FCA is expecting higher standards.

Market Watch 83, a recent instalment in the FCA newsletter on market conduct and transaction reporting issues, reports observations from a series of FCA reviews of corporate finance firms. These reviews focused on their systems and controls for handling inside information about their corporate clients, particularly market soundings.

AI Live Testing allows firms to work directly with the regulator, receiving tailored support to develop, assess and deploy AI systems live in UK financial markets. Part of the FCA AI Lab, the service aims to help firms transition from proof of concept to live market deployment.

Supplementing its authorisation information for firms, the FCA published a new webpage sharing observed examples of good and poor practice. Good practice includes firms conducting their own assessments of Approved Persons to ensure suitability, and applications that include clear ownership structure charts.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have each voted to further extend to Oct 1, 2026, the date for investment advisers to comply with amendments to Form PF. Various Form PF amendments, jointly adopted in February 2024, increased reporting requirements for most private fund advisers.