Fundraising Concentration: Bigger Funds, Fewer Winners

Scale is compounding on itself in fundraising.

Funds smaller than $500 million raised just 13% of global buyout and growth fundraising in 2025 ($60 billion), down from 17% in 2020 ($79 billion), while funds larger than $5 billion grew their share from 28% in 2021 to 35% in 2025. Over the same period, the number of new PE firms has declined roughly 18% per year globally, first-time buyout fundraisers have fallen 15% annually, and the number of effectively inactive PE firms reached a record 304 in 2025.

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Bain's data tells a consistent story from a different angle: global buyout fundraising fell 16% in 2025, and the number of funds closed dropped for a fourth consecutive year across almost every strategy. The funds that still closed quickly, however, tended to be established managers with a track record of both strong returns and consistent distributions, reinforcing the industry's concentration toward its most proven names.

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PitchBook's fund-level data shows just how concentrated 2025 became. The 10 largest US funds captured 45.7% of all capital raised in 2025, a record high, versus a ten-year average of 39% and 34.5% in 2024.

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In that context, LPs increasingly prefer experienced managers. According to SEB, the share of capital going to experienced managers has risen from around 75% a decade ago to ~90% today, while the share of capital raised by funds of $1 billion or more has grown from 62% in 2015 to 77% currently.

ORIX's fundraising data shows the same divide for smaller managers. Funds under $1 billion captured just 15.5% of all private equity capital raised in 2025, down from 27.6% across the 2010–2020 vintages, while funds over $5 billion grew their share from 37.9% to 49.2% over the same period.

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