Smarter Realizations, Strategic Entries: Rethinking Secondaries in Private Markets (Jada Fund of Funds)

Summary

• Global secondary transaction volume reached a record level of over $160 billion in 2024, representing a 45% year-on-year increase.p.4
• Secondaries accounted for 38% of global private equity exits in 2024, despite representing just over 1% of private capital market NAV.p.4
• North American funds transacted 80% of global secondary volume in 2024, while European secondaries accounted for 15% and Asia remained small at just over $5 billion.p.5
• GP-led secondary deals grew to $77 billion in 2024, accounting for 48% of the global secondaries market.p.10
• Single-asset and multi-asset structures dominated GP-led secondary activity, representing 87% of total GP-led volume in 2024.p.12
• Secondary market transactions have traded at an average discount to NAV of 14% over the past two decades.p.16

Key insights

1. Secondaries accounted for 38% of global private equity exits in 2024 while representing only just over 1% of total private capital market NAV.p.4
2. Secondary transaction volume in North America expanded to 80% of global activity in 2024, compared to 15% in Europe and just over $5 billion in Asia.p.5
3. Evercore recorded $102 billion in secondary transaction volume during the first half of 2025 alone.p.7
4. GP-led secondaries expanded their share of all GP-initiated exits from 4% in 2021 to 10% in 2024, while IPO exit values dropped sharply.p.11
5. In continuation vehicle transactions, 80-90% of limited partners choose to take liquidity rather than rolling over their exposure into the new fund.p.14
6. The optimal secondary entry window for buyers occurs in years 4-7 of a private equity fund's life, helping mitigate the traditional J-curve effect.p.15
7. Only 2% of secondary funds fail to return invested capital (TVPI < 1.0x), compared to 26% for venture capital funds and 12% for buyout funds.p.20
8. The number of publicly listed companies in major Western stock markets has declined by 40%-60% over the last two decades.p.23