continuation vehicles

Distressed investors are moving earlier, secondaries are becoming core infrastructure, and banks are racing into private markets as liquidity strains reshape the system.

The same dynamics unnerving investors—higher rates, slower exits and rising redemption requests—are fueling strategies that monetize discounts, extend assets and re-cut portfolios, often long before cash flows prove the story out.

Private equity is engineering new ways to manufacture liquidity, but investors are signaling that continuation vehicles can’t replace real exits forever.

Ares acquired Convergint in 2018 and sold a stake in the company to Harvest Partners in 2021.

What began as a niche secondaries tactic is now a mainstream fundraising strategy as firms formalize dedicated continuation platforms.