Key Takeaways
- • Nearly one-quarter of Asset Management and Private Equity CEOs expect outsized earnings growth over the next three years, reflecting a marked shift from optimism to confidence across the sector.
- • 83% of Asset Management and Private Equity CEOs express confidence in industry growth, with 90% demonstrating clarity on how artificial intelligence will create competitive advantages for their funds, organizations, and portfolio companies.
- • M&A deployment and disposal activity are expected to accelerate as valuation gaps narrow, with sector leaders prioritizing strategic capital deployment and portfolio exits.
- • Digital transformation and AI investment are central to value creation strategies, though cybersecurity remains a critical concern as AI adoption expands across organizations.
- • Talent competition remains intense; CEOs are implementing proactive workforce upskilling, redesigning workplace models, and establishing new partnerships to build AI capabilities and ensure organizational readiness for competitive alpha generation.
Summary
The 11th edition of the KPMG Global CEO Outlook, based on insights from 1,350 surveyed CEOs in late 2025, reveals a pronounced shift in sentiment within the Asset Management and Private Equity sectors. Confidence has solidified across leadership ranks, with nearly 25% of CEOs anticipating outsized earnings growth over the three-year planning horizon. This elevated confidence is underpinned by favorable macroeconomic conditions, including declining interest rates, which have created a more favorable environment for capital deployment and portfolio value realization.
Strategic capital allocation is poised to accelerate materially. As valuation gaps narrow between buyer and seller expectations, Asset Management and Private Equity leaders are preparing for a significant uptick in M&A activity and portfolio disposals. This deployment-and-exit cycle reflects confidence in market conditions and a proactive stance toward executing strategic transactions that were constrained during periods of valuation uncertainty. The narrowing of valuation spreads signals market participants' willingness to deploy capital and realize gains.
Digitalization and artificial intelligence have emerged as primary value creation drivers across the sector. According to the KPMG findings, the vast majority of CEOs are confident in their organizations' ability to translate AI investments into tangible value uplift for funds, portfolio companies, and competitive positioning. However, this technological transition introduces cybersecurity risks alongside opportunities. The survey underscores that cyber resilience must evolve in tandem with AI adoption to protect fund operations and investor assets.
Organizational capability building has become a strategic imperative. Despite fierce competition for specialized talent—particularly in AI and digital domains—CEOs are implementing targeted workforce upskilling programs, restructuring workplace models to integrate distributed AI capabilities, and forging new partnerships to accelerate technology adoption and workforce retraining. This proactive approach reflects recognition that alpha generation in a technology-enabled environment requires both human expertise and organizational agility.
Sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations have transitioned from peripheral concerns to core value drivers. Sector leaders are increasingly quantifying the financial value embedded in ESG initiatives, assessing both the cost and return profile of sustainability investments, and aligning reporting frameworks with investor and regulatory expectations. This integration of ESG into the value equation reflects evolving capital allocator preferences and regulatory pressure for substantiated sustainability claims.
Strategic capital allocation is poised to accelerate materially. As valuation gaps narrow between buyer and seller expectations, Asset Management and Private Equity leaders are preparing for a significant uptick in M&A activity and portfolio disposals. This deployment-and-exit cycle reflects confidence in market conditions and a proactive stance toward executing strategic transactions that were constrained during periods of valuation uncertainty. The narrowing of valuation spreads signals market participants' willingness to deploy capital and realize gains.
Digitalization and artificial intelligence have emerged as primary value creation drivers across the sector. According to the KPMG findings, the vast majority of CEOs are confident in their organizations' ability to translate AI investments into tangible value uplift for funds, portfolio companies, and competitive positioning. However, this technological transition introduces cybersecurity risks alongside opportunities. The survey underscores that cyber resilience must evolve in tandem with AI adoption to protect fund operations and investor assets.
Organizational capability building has become a strategic imperative. Despite fierce competition for specialized talent—particularly in AI and digital domains—CEOs are implementing targeted workforce upskilling programs, restructuring workplace models to integrate distributed AI capabilities, and forging new partnerships to accelerate technology adoption and workforce retraining. This proactive approach reflects recognition that alpha generation in a technology-enabled environment requires both human expertise and organizational agility.
Sustainability and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations have transitioned from peripheral concerns to core value drivers. Sector leaders are increasingly quantifying the financial value embedded in ESG initiatives, assessing both the cost and return profile of sustainability investments, and aligning reporting frameworks with investor and regulatory expectations. This integration of ESG into the value equation reflects evolving capital allocator preferences and regulatory pressure for substantiated sustainability claims.
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