Private equity booms to $9.9T, Asia leads growth

Ocorian, a market leader in asset servicing for private markets and corporate and fiduciary administration, reported that assets in private equity funds have surged to a record high of $9.917 trillion.

They have risen by over 570% between 2010 and 2025 from $1.481 trillion and have gained 10.8% since December 2024, Ocorian’s latest Global Asset Monitor found. Ocorian is predicting further growth of 75.5% between now and 2030, taking total assets in global private equity funds to $17.41 trillion.

Ocorian’s analysis showed that 2025’s growth in private equity global assets to $9.917 trillion has been driven in particular by Asian markets which hit a record $2.1 trillion, up 15.8% in the first eight months of the year. They accounted for 30% of 2025’s growth despite only accounting for a fifth of assets.

Private equity assets in North America still dominate fund holdings, with a 57% share of the total asset pool. Ocorian’s modelling showed that while North America’s private equity assets lagged behind Asia’s growth, total underlying assets in North America reached a new record of $5.64 trillion by early September, up 9.6% year-to-date.

Private equity funds domiciled in North America are now worth $5.06 trillion, accounting for 51% of the total private equity funds under management globally. This compares to those in Asia managing 31% and those in Europe managing 15% of the total.

Yegor Lanovenko, global co-head of fund services at Ocorian said, “As private equity matures into a $17 trillion market by 2030 and aims to solidify its place as part of the whole model portfolio, with the realignment of interest rates, the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment, the advantage for managers is shifting back to operating discipline and value creation.

“LPs are rewarding managers who pair proven operating performance with governance and internal operational efficiency infrastructure that can stand up to institutional scrutiny and changing investor reporting expectations.

 “At Ocorian, we help alternative asset managers handle operational and regulatory complexity across the full investment lifecycle, especially when operating scale is a differentiator and investor needs and profiles are evolving fast across asset classes."

The view of private equity fund managers

An Ocorian survey of U.S. based private equity professionals who collectively manage $335.25 billion in assets, revealed they expect capital from all major LP sources to rise, with family offices and pension funds leading the charge. Notably, high-net-worth (HNW) and ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals are not expected to increase their capital subscriptions significantly (only 9.4% over the next two years) compared to 20.2% from pension funds and 17.8% from family offices.

However, as the market grows, fear of regulatory creep is nearly universal - 85% of those surveyed expect more regulation, 88% expect more industry restrictions and fines, and 80% anticipate more time spent on compliance failures.

The ambition to use more third-party providers is partly driven by this complexity. 47% are already outsourcing more over the latest lifecycle, compared to 44% who have not made changes and just 9% who have brought more in-house.

More than four out of five (81%) expect to expand their reliance on third parties in the next two years, in particular, investor services and fund administration are the functions most likely to be outsourced, though reporting is also high up the list.

Re-disseminated by  Wealth and Society