Private market assets could reach $25 trillion by 2030

14 March 2025
Private Equity

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M&A shows signs of recovery

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos early 2025, Ardian’s Executive President, Mark Benedetti, predicts a rapidly expanding role for private capital, enabling companies to stay private for longer.

The days of regarding private markets as alternative investments are long gone. Having reached around $14 trillion in assets under management, they are on course to grow to $20-$25 trillion by the end of the decade, Ardian’s Executive President, Mark Benedetti, told the ‘Private for Longer’ panel session at Davos on January 22.

$14 trillion

Assets under management in private markets currently
25%

of private equity funds dry powder over 4 years old
$20-25 trillion

assets under management in private markets by 2030

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This influx of private investment capital has big implications for companies that would previously have needed to go public to finance their growth plans. Now entrepreneurs can raise significant capital from private sources much more easily and flexibly than ever, securing the financial resources needed for business expansion and market positioning, he said.

There are so many options on the menu for that entrepreneur – they can have a private capital solution that could be for five years, 10 years or longer. It could be for a minority stake or a majority. The playbook has become bigger for private markets.

Mark Benedetti, Ardian’s Executive President

Individual investors are also looking to get access to private assets, Benedetti pointed out. If this part of the market takes off, it could bring another wave of capital that could push total assets under management in private markets above $25 trillion by 2030, he predicted.

Once you get to that kind of scale, private markets are really giving public markets a run for their money because they are offering a full solution to companies of all sizes and types.

Mark Benedetti, Ardian’s Executive President

M&A shows signs of recovery

Private dealmaking went through a difficult period following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. But conditions now appear to be improving as the pace of exits picks up. Benedetti pointed out that the final quarter of 2024 was the first for more than three years when capital calls for private equity funds matched distributions. “Does that mean we’re going back to the exit pace we had in 2021? No. But maybe back to the previous normal, which was the levels we saw in 2018 and 2019,” he said.

"If you think about a typical private equity fund with a five-year investment period, they have another year to invest that capital – and that’s what they’re going to do. That doesn’t mean they’re going to do something reckless; it just means the capital is trying to find good investment opportunities that align with market growth, company value, and long-term return strategies" added Mark Benedetti.

If you think about a typical private equity fund with a five-year investment period, they have another year to invest that capital – and that’s what they’re going to do.

Mark Benedetti, Ardian’s Executive President

This easing would be a relief to private equity sponsors, given that 25% of their dry powder is four years old or more.