Private equity giants, Carlyle and UBS, unveil a secondary market initiative catering to exclusive private wealth clients.
In a move to democratize access to private equity secondaries, Carlyle and UBS's Unified Global Alternatives (UGA) have launched an innovative open-ended private equity secondaries initiative. This venture, aimed at wealth management clients, including accredited investors and high-net-worth individuals, addresses the historic liquidity challenges associated with private equity investments.
Key aspects of this initiative include an open-ended fund structure, offering greater liquidity with quarterly redemption opportunities, unlike traditional private equity funds that lock investors in for 5 to 10 years. A Luxembourg-based fund has already been launched, with plans for a U.S. fund to follow, enhancing global investor access and regulatory flexibility.
The partnership leverages Carlyle's AlpInvest expertise in secondaries and UBS's extensive global network, providing access to a broad spectrum of deals, including secondaries, growth investments, publicly traded companies, and take-private transactions. The initiative targets institutional-quality secondaries exposure but tailors it for wealth clients, offering enhanced diversification and long-term value potential.
This collaboration taps into a rapidly growing $500 billion private equity secondaries market, which has expanded at about 30% annually over the past decade. According to Chris Perriello, Global Head of Secondaries at Carlyle AlpInvest, today's secondaries market is seeing one of the most active environments in years.
Johannes Roth, Co-Head of UGA at UBS, has stated that the partnership will leverage Carlyle's deal execution and UGA's sourcing network to establish a robust pipeline for secondary market opportunities. Shane Clifford, Global Head of Wealth at Carlyle, added that the collaboration aims to expand access to world-class private market solutions.
This initiative by Carlyle and UBS UGA represents a significant innovation to “unlock” private equity secondaries liquidity for a broader investor base, particularly within wealth management. The collaboration reflects a strategic shift to serve wealth clients seeking alternatives to volatile public markets by making high-quality private equity secondaries accessible with improved liquidity and flexibility.
Jerry Pascucci, Co-Head of UGA at UBS, commented that they are proud to innovate with the world's premier GPs. As of March 2025, Carlyle manages $453bn in assets, with significant exposure to private equity, credit, and secondaries, while UBS's UGA platform oversees approximately $295bn across private equity, credit, hedge funds, real estate, and infrastructure.
This groundbreaking initiative is set to revolutionize the private equity secondaries market, offering wealth management clients an unprecedented opportunity to invest in this traditionally institutional-dominated space.
- Carlyle and UBS's Unified Global Alternatives (UGA) have launched an open-ended private equity secondaries initiative, aiming to democratize access to this market.
- The venture addresses historic liquidity challenges associated with private equity investments by offering quarterly redemption opportunities, unlike traditional private equity funds.
- The partnership between Carlyle and UBS leverages expertise in secondaries and extends to a broad spectrum of deals, including secondaries, growth investments, and take-private transactions.
- This collaboration targets institutional-quality secondaries exposure but tailors it for wealth clients, offering enhanced diversification and long-term value potential.
- The private equity secondaries market, currently worth $500 billion and growing annually by about 30%, is seeing one of the most active environments in years.
- The initiative by Carlyle and UBS UGA aims to expand access to world-class private market solutions, particularly for wealth management clients seeking alternatives to volatile public markets.
- As of March 2025, Carlyle manages $453bn in assets and UBS's UGA platform oversees approximately $295bn, positioning the collaboration to revolutionize the private equity secondaries market.
