Goldman Sachs

Private equity fundraising is recovering, but co-investments, SMAs and other negotiated benefits are making the headline size of a flagship fund an increasingly incomplete measure of what it costs to raise.

Deal flow cooled sharply in July as macroeconomic uncertainty and a sluggish private equity exit environment continued to weigh on transactions, though year-to-date activity remains ahead of 2025.

Some AI investments carry infrastructure valuations even though their returns still hinge on development-stage execution.