H1 2026 Credit Secondary Market Review (Evercore)

Summary

• H1 2026 credit secondary volume reached $20.4bn, more than doubling H1 2025 and already exceeding full-year 2025 transaction volume.p.2
• GP-led transactions accounted for approximately 83% of H1 2026 credit secondary volume.p.2
• GP-led credit volume reached $17bn (+183% YoY) while LP-led credit volume reached $3bn (+7% YoY).p.3
• GP-led credit transactions continued to price at approximately 99% of FMV on average in H1 2026.p.4
• Dedicated equity dry powder for credit secondaries stands at approximately $30.5bn, representing more than 14% of total secondary market dry powder.p.5
• 90%+ of buyers are raising capital in the next 12 months, including 71% that expect to return to market in less than six months.p.5
• Expected 2026 BDC / semi-liquid share of credit secondary volume is 25%.p.7

Key insights

1. GPs sought to generate liquidity from mature 2018-2021 vintage funds during their harvest periods.p.2
2. Credit secondary volume grew 122% year-over-year as GP-led transactions continued to gain market share.p.3
3. Buyers of senior / unitranche opportunities typically target 10%-15% levered net IRRs, with transactions generally levered at or around 50%+ LTV.p.5
4. North America accounted for 72% of capital deployed into the credit secondary market, while Europe accounted for 28%.p.6
5. Evercore expects European GP-led credit secondary volume to total approximately €13bn across 12 deals in 2026.p.6
6. Approximately 25% of reported transactions included deferrals, while 34% of GP-led transactions included an unlevered sleeve.p.6
7. About 76% of reported transactions used a post-reference date cash flow period of 6 months or less.p.6
8. Redemption requests have increased 6.4x since 3Q25, while default rates remain broadly in line with historical ranges.p.7