For years, secondary market activity in Asia-Pacific followed a familiar pattern of episodic surges driven by acute liquidity pressure, followed by relative quiet as conditions stabilized. That dynamic is changing. Our latest report, produced in partnership with Private Equity Wire, explores how current conditions indicate a sustained structural shift that will reward prepared managers and expose those who are not.
The global secondaries market recorded 48% year-on-year growth in transaction volumes through 2025, with projections suggesting volumes could exceed $300 billion in 2026. APAC is becoming an increasingly important contributor to that growth. Prolonged exit constraints across IPO and M&A channels have kept capital locked in aging vintages, and investors across the region are now turning to secondaries as a deliberate portfolio management tool. The shift in intent indicates a developing market where sustained growth depends on operational readiness in such a complex environment.
Three Forces Making Growth Permanent
The first structural driver is the persistence of exit constraints. Even as distributions improve globally, the APAC liquidity gap will not close in a single year. Investors typically continue relying on secondary transactions for several years after liquidity conditions begin to improve. In APAC, where exit channels have been constrained for longer, that reliance is likely to persist longer than in more mature markets.
The second driver is the expansion of continuation vehicles. Globally, nearly half of all managers now report that the majority of their secondary transactions take the form of continuation vehicles (CVs), and APAC is accelerating into this space. According to our survey, APAC managers are significantly more likely to use CVs for problem-asset rollovers than their North American or European peers, with 24% citing this use case compared with 5% in North America. As governance frameworks mature and managers become more comfortable using CVs, their applications will expand well beyond problem-asset transactions.
The third driver is the imminent arrival of retail and wealth capital. APAC managers are more aware of the operational demands associated with retail access than their peers in other regions. Our survey showed 29% cite valuation frequency and complexity as a top challenge, the highest proportion globally. That awareness reflects both the scale of the opportunity and the need to close infrastructure gaps before retail participation accelerates.
The Operational Window Is Narrowing
As the APAC secondaries market evolves, operational capability is becoming an increasingly important competitive differentiator. Firms need the infrastructure to provide look-through transparency, support rigorous valuation processes and satisfy the reporting expectations of a broader investor base.
Secondary market activity in the region has historically been driven by a relatively small group of well-capitalized managers with the infrastructure to execute complex transactions. As the market broadens and deal volumes increase, operational expectations will continue to rise. Firms that rely on manual processes, fragmented data management or ad hoc reporting frameworks will find themselves at a compounding disadvantage as competition for quality deal flow intensifies.
Access to secondary market platforms is emerging as a significant growth driver for APAC firms, more so than in North America or Europe. This reflects both the region's ambition and the recognition that scale and connectivity are essential for competitiveness.
The leading APAC managers are distinguishing themselves through investment in data infrastructure, valuation discipline and technology-enabled look-through capability. These are no longer optional enhancements. They are becoming baseline requirements for participating in a market that is rapidly professionalizing. For managers still in the early stages of building these foundations, the window to act is narrowing. The APAC secondaries opportunity is growing, and it will increasingly favor firms that have built operations capable of supporting its complexity.
Read the full report, Engineering Liquidity: Secondaries in 2026, to learn more about secondaries growth in APAC.