The private equity (PE) sector is currently at a crucial juncture, re-evaluating its strategies and traditional methods while exploring new ways to generate returns. As we look ahead to 2025, new six themes have emerged to shape the future of the PE landscape. The six trends are
- Infrastructure: PE will continue its investments in infrastructure across sectors, particularly in the energy and digital infrastructure spaces.
- Artificial intelligence: AI was No. 1 on the list last year and is now in the No. 2 spot for 2025. The difference is that PE’s use of AI is more focused now.
- Growth: Nos. 3 and 4 on last year’s list were value creation and working capital. This year, both trends are merged into a single theme, growth, as firms concentrate on revenue growth to enhance their performance.
- Sovereign wealth funds: As sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) increasingly seek to diversify their investments in the pursuit of higher returns and reduced risk, their influence will grow.
- Definition of capital: In 2025, PE firms will continue to stretch the definition of private equity. Private markets play a crucial role in the economy by providing essential capital to innovative, emerging, and middle-market companies that struggle to secure financing through public equity, debt markets, or traditional bank lending.
- Change management: Rounding out the 2025 list is the importance of change management at all levels of the private equity landscape.