Goldman Sachs Alternatives has published the second part of its "Global Alternatives Survey 2026". After the first part set out the perspective of Limited Partners (LPs), this part covers the view of General Partners (GPs). It is titled "Recalibration, not Reinvention".

Key findings

1. GPs are looking for new routes to distributions
As the exit environment becomes more challenging overall, GPs are increasingly interested in non-traditional ways of returning capital to investors. More respondents than in previous years say they are "more likely" to use portfolio financing or continuation vehicles. Nevertheless, they clearly prefer traditional exit routes such as sales to other financial investors and to strategic buyers.

2. For growth, GPs rely on proven sources
GPs are aiming for larger flagship funds. Rather than building new strategies or tapping new sources of capital, however, they are mainly turning to traditional sources. While more of them offer evergreen strategies and seek capital from private investors, drawdown fund structures and institutional capital continue to dominate. This is hardly surprising, as most of the GPs surveyed are mid-market firms.

3. AI transformation in focus
GPs are very open to AI. Technology in the broader sense is their preferred lever for value creation. Around three quarters of GPs say they use or are considering using AI to evaluate investments and reduce costs. However, many are not yet exploiting the full potential of AI: around a quarter cite integrating AI use cases as one of the biggest challenges for their organisation, suggesting there is still room for development.

The survey is the second part of a four-part series. The upcoming editions will cover private credit and alternatives for retail.

This text was automatically translated from the German original.