Secondaries

The real estate chief, whose firm raised the largest-ever fund targeting the space, said the strategy has ‘blown up’ in the last few years.

The US secondaries market may have notched up record levels of deal activity in 2024, but global trade uncertainty and volatility elsewhere in the markets leave the situation delicately poised.

The $200bn pension now places a greater focus on the CV market, which is less crowded by retail capital, according to senior investment officer John Bradley.

The Paris-headquartered firm deployed $13bn into secondaries and primaries in 2024, with the average transaction size from its $30bn flagship reaching $2bn, according to its annual report.

The investment firm doubled its year-on-year deployment in 2024, investing €2.4bn into secondaries transactions last year.

The additions include Mark Epley, named a senior adviser supporting secondaries investment origination and sponsor coverage.

The advisory side of the secondaries market has been hot this year as talent continues to move around.

The firm has made three new hires this year across its Toronto and London offices.

Mark McDonald joined Brookfield when the asset manager in 2023 bought Deutsche Bank’s specialist secondaries unit that he led.

A report by the investment bank and the HEC School of Management in Paris has reaffirmed findings that continuation funds perform largely in line with buyout funds with less risk.