Why are Europe’s investors racing toward liquidity, secondaries and the mid-market?

The hunt for liquidity is defining Europe’s private capital landscape in 2025. From shrinking durations to rising DPI obsession, the pressure is reshaping how LPs allocate, how GPs exit, and how credit strategies evolve. Joel Sandhu, Co-founder & Partner, Investors Capital, and Francesco Castellani Tarabini, Co-Portfolio Manager, Private Debt Investments, Generali Asset Management from SuperReturn Europe, cut right to the heart of it and offer a glimpse of where the liquidity race is heading next.

When public markets surge and private equity slows, who wins the liquidity race?

Joel breaks down one of the most uncomfortable truths in the market right now: “When public markets run hot and exits dry up, private equity’s IRRs get hit and LPs pull back. It’s the reality we’re in.” From mega-funds stuck with ageing assets, to mid-market managers still finding pathways through Europe’s fragmented ecosystem.

Shorter duration. Faster distributions. The rise of private credit secondaries.

Francesco brings one of the clearest explanations of why private credit secondaries are exploding in Europe: “If you shorten duration, returns go up. And when everyone wants liquidity, that becomes very appealing.”

If 2024 was the year liquidity tightened, 2025 is the year Europe learned how to engineer it. Through secondaries, mid-market resilience, and smarter, faster capital recycling, the sprint has started and the winners will be the ones who can adapt the fastest.