Steady dealmaking alongside increased exit activity positions private equity to end the current financial year on a relatively high note, according to recent update from PitchBook.
PitchBook researchers noted in their latest report that following the increased uncertainty in Q2, headwinds are now starting to turn into tailwinds for many of the world’s major private equity sponsors.
PE deal and exit activity are said to now be pacing for another year of steady growth as sponsors try to take advantage of significantly lower rates, more market clarity, as well as more to complete deals and exits.
PitchBook’s Q3 2025 Global PE First Look—the so-called data-only forerunner to their quarterly US and European PE Breakdown reports—indicates that global PE deal activity remains fairly steady, exit activity is now beginning its own acceleration, and fundraising activity is said to be “struggling to keep pace.”
Meanwhile, the research report pointed out that Q3 deal value remained elevated as sponsors continued to execute large-scale deals, which includes the $55 billion take-private of Electronic Arts.
And on the exit side, more sponsors are now said to be returning to the market to sell portfolio companies after a so-called “wait-and-see period where sponsors sought greater market clarity.”
In another recent update, PitchBook has analyzed the potential of going beyond 60/40 and whether private market allocations really pay off.
As noted in the PitchBook report, allocators have chanelled trillions of dollars into private markets in search of diversification and stronger returns.
However, the update from the researchers at PitchBook examined whether the shift from traditional 60/40 portfolios actually paid off. In their latest Allocator Solutions report, they claim to have tested just how private market exposures would have “changed portfolio outcomes over the past 25 years.”
The results reveal both “promise and pitfalls.”
According to the researchers, private markets can offer meaningful benefits—but only under the “right conditions.”
From liquidity trade-offs to the significance of allocation timing and pacing, success depends not only “on the asset class but also on how it is integrated into the portfolio.”
The key takeaway, according to PitchBook, is that private markets are not a shortcut to outperformance but they may considered somewhat of a strategic choice that still requires careful and methodical execution.
