The 10 Largest PE Secondary Semi-Liquid Funds

Private markets are evolving. Companies are staying private longer, pushing exits beyond the life of traditional PE funds. That delays distributions and may prompt GPs and LPs to seek new liquidity options. At the same time, semi-liquid fund structures are gaining traction with wealth managers, expanding the investor base.

These dynamics have sparked a surge in semi-liquid funds focused on PE secondaries. These funds offer GPs exit paths, give buyers access to seasoned assets (often at discounts), and aim to deliver quicker, more predictable liquidity than primary PE investments. As of mid-2025, the 10 largest publicly registered semi-liquid funds with majority exposure to secondaries manage over $25B in AUM:

Quick Insights

• Mostly Tender Offer Funds – 90% of these funds use the tender offer structure. The format gives managers discretion over the amounts and timing of redemptions, a critical feature when investing in illiquid assets lacking contractual cash flows. While interval funds offer more predictable liquidity windows, tender offer funds provide flexibility better aligned with the idiosyncratic cash flow profile of private equity assets.

• High Returns* – Several funds show reported returns above 20%. But many of these gains are unrealized. Secondary assets can be marked up to their reported valuation shortly after purchase, even if acquired at a discount.

• Growing Crowd – Major players are entering the space: Ares, Carlyle, Franklin, Hamilton Lane, JPMorgan, StepStone. As more capital chases a finite supply of quality deals, expect tighter discounts and slower deployment.

• Early Days – Most of these funds launched in the past three years. Performance looks strong on paper, but the structures haven’t yet faced a serious liquidity crunch or recession. Distributions have also been muted given the slowdown in private market realizations over this period and are unlikely to improve until exit markets (LBO, M&A, IPOs) reopen.

Final Thought: PE secondary semi-liquid funds have scaled quickly, driven by a well-timed mix of ample deal flow and growing demand from the wealth channel. The question now is whether these funds can keep sourcing attractive deals in a more crowded market, and whether current valuations hold up through actual realizations.

Not investment advice.