The Growth Opportunity: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market
Published in partnership with Buyouts | March 2026
For the ninth consecutive year, Gen II Fund Services has partnered with Buyouts to publish the private equity industry’s most comprehensive benchmark of the emerging manager landscape. The 2026 Emerging Manager Report draws on survey responses from more than 100 new fund managers—first, second, and third-time GPs—to capture what it really takes to build a successful firm in today’s market.
The verdict this year: the market remains genuinely difficult—but there is a clear path forward for managers who combine a differentiated strategy with institutional-grade infrastructure. The data reveals a barbell effect, where a handful of firms are breaking through quickly while others face extended fundraising timelines. What separates the two groups has less to do with luck and everything to do with preparation, positioning, and the partners they choose.
Key Findings from the 2026 Survey
56%
of managers are currently fundraising, up from 55% the prior year.
51%
cite market conditions as the most challenging aspect of the fundraise.
41%
are using AI tools across both their firm operations and portfolio companies.
15.8 months
average time between first and final close, down from 18 months in 2024.
33%
are actively using a seeded portfolio strategy to attract LP commitments.
82%
of LPs agree the market is bifurcated, with established managers capturing the bulk of capital.
What’s Inside the Report
This year’s report covers seven in-depth topic areas, combining quantitative survey data with editorial analysis and interviews with leading GPs and LPs:
Fundraising: How long it really takes, how many meetings are required, and which LP types are showing up—with year-over-year benchmarking back to 2020.
Fund Terms: What managers are offering to attract anchor investors, fee pressure trends, and the economics LPs are negotiating for.
Investment Strategy & Market Outlook: How emerging managers are positioning themselves—from independent sponsor strategies to seeded portfolios and retail structures—and what macro factors they fear most.
AI & Technology: The specific tools managers are prioritizing, how AI is being deployed at both the firm and portfolio company level, and why new managers may have a structural advantage over established peers.
Firm Scale & Operations: Growth metrics, investment pacing, and—critically—how managers are engaging their service providers and what they demand most.
Talent & Succession: Where hiring is hardest, how headcounts are evolving, and whether succession planning is keeping pace with firm maturation.
LP/GP Sentiment: A candid comparison of how LPs and GPs perceive the current market—and where the gaps are largest.
The Gen II Perspective: Experience Is Alpha
In a market where LPs are intensifying their scrutiny of emerging managers’ operational capabilities, fund administration is no longer just a back-office function—it’s a competitive differentiator.
This year’s survey confirms a striking trend: the number of emerging managers meeting with more than 250 prospective investors doubled year-over-year, while the number of meetings per committed LP continues to climb, with five or more meetings now becoming standard for first-time funds. Each meeting generates detailed data requests and real-time reporting demands that require institutional-grade infrastructure—from day one.
“In a bifurcated market, experience may clear early hurdles in fundraising, but platform maturity and an optimized operating structure is the differentiator. Emerging managers who treat fund administration as a value driver, not a back-office task, will be better positioned to survive consolidation and eventually graduate from the emerging manager class.”
Gen II has partnered with Buyouts on this research for nine consecutive years because we believe data transparency and market education are essential for emerging managers to succeed. The challenges documented in this report—from LP scrutiny and complex data requests to multi-jurisdiction structures and NAV financing—are exactly the operational terrain we navigate every day alongside our clients.
Our Emerging Manager clients don’t stay ‘emerging’ for long. With institutional-grade fund administration from day one, they build LP confidence faster, scale more efficiently, and focus on what matters most: generating alpha.
