Key Takeaways
- • Tokyo-based Alternative Investment Capital (AI Capital), a fund of funds manager, is increasing its activity in private equity and infrastructure secondaries during 2025, signaling institutional appetite for this asset class.
- • The global secondary market is projected to reach $240 billion in transaction volume for 2025, representing a 48 percent year-on-year increase, reflecting record growth momentum driven by enhanced liquidity and portfolio management flexibility.
- • Secondary investments offer diversification benefits across vintage years, industries, geographies, and general partners, while reducing overall portfolio risk through exposure to mature fund interests.
- • The secondaries asset class has demonstrated consistent performance across multiple economic cycles, positioning it as a resilient component of alternative investment portfolios.
Summary
Alternative Investment Capital (AI Capital), a Tokyo-headquartered fund of funds manager, is expanding its commitment to the secondaries market in 2025, reflecting broader institutional momentum toward secondary private equity and infrastructure investments. This strategic shift aligns with record growth conditions in the secondary market, which experienced substantial expansion in 2024 driven by increased liquidity opportunities and improved portfolio management capabilities for institutional investors.
The secondary market for private equity and infrastructure is entering a period of significant expansion. Global secondary market transaction volume is estimated to reach $240 billion in 2025, representing a 48 percent increase year-over-year. This growth reflects sustained institutional demand for secondary investment opportunities, which involve the purchase and sale of existing interests in illiquid alternative investment funds and selective portfolio acquisitions.
Secondary investments serve multiple strategic functions within institutional portfolios. By acquiring existing fund interests rather than committing capital to new primary funds, investors gain access to seasoned portfolio companies and reduce exposure concentration risk. The asset class offers meaningful diversification across multiple dimensions—vintage years, industries, geographies, and general partner relationships—while providing enhanced liquidity relative to traditional direct private equity or infrastructure holdings. Historical performance data demonstrates that secondaries have maintained consistent returns across multiple economic cycles, providing a stabilizing influence during market volatility.
For allocators like AI Capital, increased secondaries activity reflects both improved market conditions and a deliberate portfolio strategy to optimize returns while managing liquidity and rebalancing needs. The expansion of secondaries as an institutional-grade alternative investment category continues to mature, with larger asset managers integrating secondaries into their core alternative investment frameworks and developing scaled, technology-enabled platforms to manage increasingly complex secondary portfolios.
The secondary market for private equity and infrastructure is entering a period of significant expansion. Global secondary market transaction volume is estimated to reach $240 billion in 2025, representing a 48 percent increase year-over-year. This growth reflects sustained institutional demand for secondary investment opportunities, which involve the purchase and sale of existing interests in illiquid alternative investment funds and selective portfolio acquisitions.
Secondary investments serve multiple strategic functions within institutional portfolios. By acquiring existing fund interests rather than committing capital to new primary funds, investors gain access to seasoned portfolio companies and reduce exposure concentration risk. The asset class offers meaningful diversification across multiple dimensions—vintage years, industries, geographies, and general partner relationships—while providing enhanced liquidity relative to traditional direct private equity or infrastructure holdings. Historical performance data demonstrates that secondaries have maintained consistent returns across multiple economic cycles, providing a stabilizing influence during market volatility.
For allocators like AI Capital, increased secondaries activity reflects both improved market conditions and a deliberate portfolio strategy to optimize returns while managing liquidity and rebalancing needs. The expansion of secondaries as an institutional-grade alternative investment category continues to mature, with larger asset managers integrating secondaries into their core alternative investment frameworks and developing scaled, technology-enabled platforms to manage increasingly complex secondary portfolios.
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