Key Takeaways
- • Nearly 25% of Asset Management and Private Equity CEOs expect outsized earnings over the next three years, signaling a substantial shift from optimism to confidence in sector growth prospects.
- • 83% of Asset Management and Private Equity CEOs express confidence in industry growth, with 90% demonstrating clarity on AI's strategic value—driving planned investments in digitalization and competitive advantage creation across funds and portfolio companies.
- • Deployment activity is anticipated to accelerate significantly, with M&A execution becoming a primary focus as valuation gaps narrow and capital deployment cycles compress.
- • Talent competition remains acute; CEOs are implementing proactive workforce strategies including upskilling programs, workplace model adjustments, and strategic partnerships to build AI adoption and retraining capabilities.
- • Sustainability has evolved into a measurable value creation lever, with sector leaders increasingly quantifying ESG financial impact and aligning reporting metrics to investor and regulatory expectations.
Summary
The KPMG 2025 Global CEO Outlook, based on a survey of 1,350 CEOs conducted in late 2025, reveals a significant hardening of confidence within the Asset Management and Private Equity sector heading into 2026. The sentiment shift from generalized optimism to conviction is evidenced by 83% of respondents expressing confidence in industry growth, with nearly a quarter expecting outsized earnings performance over a three-year horizon. This represents a material upgrade in forward-looking expectations for capital deployment and value creation across the sector.
Artificial intelligence and digitalization have become central to competitive strategy among Asset Management and Private Equity leaders. Approximately 90% of surveyed CEOs demonstrate clarity on AI's strategic applications, with the vast majority confident in their organizational capacity to convert AI investments into tangible value uplift. Investment priorities center on leveraging AI to drive competitive advantages for individual funds, organizational operations, and portfolio company performance. Concurrently, cybersecurity concerns have intensified, as AI adoption introduces both operational risks and defensive opportunities that require active management.
The confluence of tightening valuation spreads and strategic confidence is expected to catalyze a significant increase in deployment activity and M&A execution throughout 2026. As capital deployment accelerates, sector leaders anticipate corresponding disposal activity, reflecting a more active portfolio management posture. This dynamic is contingent on CEOs' ability to secure and develop specialized talent in an intensely competitive labor market. Organizations are addressing talent scarcity through upskilling initiatives, workplace model modernization, and new partnerships designed to scale AI adoption and workforce retraining capabilities.
Sustainability considerations have matured beyond compliance frameworks into quantifiable value creation mechanisms. Sector leaders are now focused on rigorous financial assessment of ESG initiatives, including cost-benefit analysis and return attribution. This strategic reorientation reflects mounting investor and regulatory pressure to substantiate sustainability investments through measurable financial and non-financial outcomes. The emphasis on reporting alignment and metric clarity indicates that sustainability is becoming an integral component of fund performance narratives and investor communication strategies.
Artificial intelligence and digitalization have become central to competitive strategy among Asset Management and Private Equity leaders. Approximately 90% of surveyed CEOs demonstrate clarity on AI's strategic applications, with the vast majority confident in their organizational capacity to convert AI investments into tangible value uplift. Investment priorities center on leveraging AI to drive competitive advantages for individual funds, organizational operations, and portfolio company performance. Concurrently, cybersecurity concerns have intensified, as AI adoption introduces both operational risks and defensive opportunities that require active management.
The confluence of tightening valuation spreads and strategic confidence is expected to catalyze a significant increase in deployment activity and M&A execution throughout 2026. As capital deployment accelerates, sector leaders anticipate corresponding disposal activity, reflecting a more active portfolio management posture. This dynamic is contingent on CEOs' ability to secure and develop specialized talent in an intensely competitive labor market. Organizations are addressing talent scarcity through upskilling initiatives, workplace model modernization, and new partnerships designed to scale AI adoption and workforce retraining capabilities.
Sustainability considerations have matured beyond compliance frameworks into quantifiable value creation mechanisms. Sector leaders are now focused on rigorous financial assessment of ESG initiatives, including cost-benefit analysis and return attribution. This strategic reorientation reflects mounting investor and regulatory pressure to substantiate sustainability investments through measurable financial and non-financial outcomes. The emphasis on reporting alignment and metric clarity indicates that sustainability is becoming an integral component of fund performance narratives and investor communication strategies.
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