> **来源：[研报客](https://pc.yanbaoke.cn)** # The State of Private Markets 2026 Summary ## Core Content The **State of Private Markets 2026** report highlights the maturation of private markets and the increasing demand for transparency, data quality, and analytical tools. It outlines the current state of the industry and the challenges it faces as it integrates with public markets and expands into new investment channels. ## Main Points - **Private Markets Are Maturing**: The report emphasizes that private markets are evolving, and the infrastructure to support this growth — including data and analytics — is catching up. This shift is necessary for investors to make informed, total-portfolio decisions. - **Five Themes Defining 2026**: - **Stress in Private Credit**: The AI-driven disruption has raised concerns, particularly in the software sector. High-profile bankruptcies in 2025 and the impact of AI on business software have led to liquidity issues and volatility in private-credit funds. - **Liquidity Drought**: Private-equity exits have slowed, and managers are holding onto portfolio companies. This has created a liquidity challenge, prompting the use of continuation vehicles and increased activity in the secondary market. - **AI Build-Out**: AI-related assets now make up 16% of global private equity, with trillions in capital potentially required to support the infrastructure. Data-center investments have seen strong returns but also growing complexity and risk. - **Evergreen Funds**: These semi-liquid structures have grown significantly, surpassing USD 500 billion in assets. However, concerns about valuation quality and redemption management have become more pressing. - **Blurring Asset-Class Boundaries**: Private-credit funds often have equity exposure, while thematic investments like data centers span multiple asset classes. This trend complicates risk assessment and portfolio management. ## Key Information ### Performance in 2025 - **Venture Capital**: Resurged with a strong annual return of 22.0%, marking its first double-digit return since 2021. - **Private Equity**: Broader performance was more subdued, with buyout returning 10.1% for the year. - **Private Credit**: Maintained a positive return of 9.8% in 2025, though faced volatility due to AI-related fears and redemption pressures. - **Real Estate**: Continued underperformance, with a negative return in 2025 and a weak IRR of 2.0%. - **Infrastructure**: Achieved the second strongest return in 2025 at 12.0%, driven by AI-related data-center investments. ### Investor Behavior and Market Dynamics - **Transparency Demands**: Investors are pushing for more frequent and detailed data to evaluate their total portfolio. This is especially critical as private markets become more mainstream. - **Liquidity Challenges**: With private-equity exits slowing, investors are waiting for returns, and the industry is adapting with new structures like continuation vehicles. - **Data Infrastructure**: MSCI is applying its expertise in public markets to private markets, aiming to improve data quality, reporting standards, and analytical tools to support greater transparency and integration. ### Challenges in the Industry - **Data Gaps**: Many GPs lack access to trusted, standardized private-asset data, making it difficult to manage investor expectations and assess performance. - **Benchmarking Issues**: Both large and small GPs struggle with identifying appropriate benchmarks for their strategies. - **Investor Pressure**: Limited partners are demanding better performance reporting and transparency, which is reshaping the industry and driving innovation in data and analytics. ## Conclusion The report concludes that private markets are maturing and that the infrastructure — particularly in data and analytics — is critical to their sustainable growth. The integration of private and public assets is becoming more necessary, and the industry must adapt to meet the rising expectations of investors. MSCI is at the forefront of this transformation, providing tools and frameworks to enhance transparency and support informed decision-making. ## Highlights - **Transparency in High Demand**: LPs are pushing for more detailed and timely insights, especially as private markets grow in size and importance. - **AI Reshaping the Landscape**: AI-related assets are a significant portion of private equity, and the sector is evolving rapidly. - **Evergreen Funds**: These structures are growing and becoming more important, but they bring new challenges in valuation and liquidity. - **Blurring Asset-Class Boundaries**: Private-credit and thematic investments are challenging traditional classifications, necessitating a more granular and integrated approach to asset allocation. - **Liquidity Drought**: Private-equity managers are holding onto assets longer, creating a liquidity challenge for investors. ## Key Statistics - **USD 7 trillion** has been allocated to private markets by public pension and sovereign wealth funds. - **68% of large GPs** and **52% of smaller GPs** cited managing investor expectations and reporting as top challenges. - **Venture Capital IRR**: 19% in 2025, still below its peak in the 2020-2021 period. - **Buyout IRR**: 9% in 2025, outperforming public markets over the past 25 years. - **Private Credit IRR**: 10.2% in 2025, with significant volatility driven by AI-related fears and redemption pressures. ## Data and Methodology - MSCI has developed a **daily index** for private credit to provide more timely data compared to quarterly reports. - The **MSCI All Country Private Credit Index** has been backtested to 2010 and shows real-time performance, while the **quarterly index** reflects lagged data. - The report uses various **charts and tables** to illustrate trends in performance, liquidity, and data availability across different asset classes and fund types. ## Go Deeper - **Transparency, Data & Total Portfolio Thinking**: MSCI is helping investors better understand their exposures across public and private assets. - **Benchmarking Tools**: The report discusses the need for more accurate and relevant benchmarks for private-market strategies. - **2025 General Partner Survey**: Highlights the challenges and expectations of GPs in the current market environment. The report underscores the importance of improving data infrastructure and analytical capabilities to support the continued growth and integration of private markets.