The Secondaries Surge: Liquidity in Private Markets

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Welcome to Unlocking Liquidity, the podcast from PrimaryMarkets that brings the dynamic world of private capital to life. Each week, we dive into the trends, opportunities and challenges shaping today’s investment landscape, from emerging asset classes and market innovation through to strategies for navigating liquidity in unlisted markets. Whether you’re an experienced investor, a dealmaker, or simply curious about private markets, Unlocking Liquidity offers analysis and real-world insights to help you make sense of complexity and stay ahead of what’s next.

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In this episode we explore how secondary trading is reshaping private investing, why liquidity has become a critical portfolio tool, and what this means for investors, advisers and platforms operating in today’s market environment.

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Private markets are no longer the exclusive preserve of patient, illiquid capital. Over the last few years a confluence of investor demand, fund innovation and financial markets infrastructure has transformed secondary transactions from an occasional simple off-market share transfer into a core portfolio tool for wholesale investors. For platforms and intermediaries that connect buyers and sellers of unlisted securities, this shift is more than just a market trend: it is a fundamental change in how private holdings are managed, priced, allocated and traded. Both globally and in Australia, secondary trading platforms such as PrimaryMarkets are providing transparently priced liquidity for securities that historically required years to monetise, allowing private investors to rebalance, harvest gains or reallocate capital without waiting for IPOs or trade sales.

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Liquidity in private assets fundamentally changes the investment calculus. Investors allocate to private companies for the higher return potential and diversification they offer, but they have, at the same time, also accepted capital lock-ups and uncertain exit timing. The expanding secondary liquidity potential reduces that friction by creating pathways to convert equity positions into cash or to reshuffle exposure without relying solely on a company liquidity event. This is not merely about meeting near-term cash needs: secondary trading broadens portfolio construction choices. Investors can trim concentrated positions, harvest gains in a rising private-valued asset, rotate into other opportunities or manage downside risk by taking partial exits. The ability to access secondary liquidity also makes private allocations more attractive to discretionary managers and advisers who need to demonstrate liquidity management within client portfolios.

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Secondary trading activity today sits along a spectrum. At one end are company brokered, off-market liquidity events where individual holders—employees, early investors and founders—sell parcels to qualified buyers. These trades tend to be once off or periodic, price fixed and executed under company auspicious through specialist service providers or investment banks. Companies such as Canva and SpaceX have all undertaken transactions of this kind.

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Another example of secondary structured transactions, which are generally GP-led, are continuation funds, single-asset secondaries and tender offers orchestrated by fund managers to provide liquidity to existing LPs while retaining assets under the manager’s control.

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Finally, there are secondary transactions facilitated by platforms such as PrimaryMarkets where individual shareholders can, on an open and ongoing basis, seek liquidity via a secure and transparent, technology enabled platform with the imprimatur of the company.

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All forms are complementary. Freely available liquidity supports granular transactions and helps early investors realise value ahead of an IPO, while GP-led deals provide sizeable, curated liquidity solutions for funds and strategic re-positioning of portfolios. The growing depth of all channels is driving overall private market expansion.

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The expansion of secondary trading is a global phenomenon. Large intermediaries and advisors reported record secondary volumes through 2023 and 2024, driven by plentiful dry powder and an appetite for GP-led continuation structures. Global growth has increased capital chasing “secondhand” private assets and pushed the market from a niche liquidity tool to a mainstream portfolio instrument.

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In late 2025 corporate M&A activity put secondary trading of unlisted securities onto centre stage. In late October Morgan Stanley announced the acquisition of leading US private shares platform, EquityZen and a week later US financial services giant, Charles Schwab, announced a proposal to acquire NYSE listed Forge Global (also a leading US private market share trading platform) for an estimated US$600m.

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Australia has its own version of the secondary trading story. Continuation funds and off-market trading have become more active, with increases in both the number and value of transactions. Domestic advisers and specialist platforms have stepped in to provide the execution and regulatory frameworks required to support these trades. The shift is visible with substantial secondary trading activity in Australia tailored to local investor bases. These developments are drawing attention from regulators such as ASIC as public-private market dynamics evolve.

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GP-led secondary solutions have risen because they solve two pain points simultaneously: they offer LPs a liquidity path without fire-sale pricing and they give GPs discretion to retain and optimise valuable assets beyond the original fund term. For fund managers, continuation vehicles create a controlled market for portfolio companies where a carefully assembled group of secondary buyers (often specialist secondaries funds, institutions and family offices) can provide attractive pricing and long-term capital. For wholesale investors, these deals offer access to de-risked exposures that have already matured through a fund’s life and to potential upside under a manager’s new strategic plan. That alignment explains why GP-led activity accounted for a rising share of global secondary volumes and why these structures have become a central feature of private market liquidity solutions.

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Online trading platforms that specialise in unlisted securities such as PrimaryMarkets have made secondary trading far more efficient. These platforms serve as aggregation and price discovery mechanisms—matching sellers with a broad network of qualified private investors. They simplify compliance, escrow, settlement mechanics and investor accreditation, which is crucial where trades are restricted to wholesale investors. By lowering transaction costs and shortening execution timelines, platforms increase the practical attractiveness of secondary trades for both sellers and buyers. Platforms that provide transparent price discovery and independent valuation frameworks also help wholesale investors make informed allocation decisions in unlisted companies.

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As secondary activity has scaled it has inevitably attracted increased regulatory scrutiny. ASIC is examining how private markets interact with public markets, disclosure frameworks and investor protections. Questions around valuation, conflicts of interest, manager remuneration and investor protections more generally all sit squarely within regulatory view. This attention is not a headwind so much as a maturing signal: robust governance and consistent standards increase institutional confidence, encourage participation from large pools of capital (including superannuation and family offices) and help ensure that secondaries can be scaled responsibly. Practitioners who engage in secondaries must therefore be conversant not only with deal mechanics but with ongoing regulatory developments.

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For wholesale investors, the rise of secondary trading means new portfolio management tools are now available. Investors should assess not only price but structure and liquidity options. Participation in a GP-led continuation fund often involves different liquidity horizons, fee arrangements and governance rights. Due diligence should emphasise independent valuation processes, clarity on transfer restrictions, alignment of incentives with the selling principals and a clear view on future exit pathways. Access to a trusted platform or adviser with experience in structuring and executing secondary trades is increasingly material to achieving competitive outcomes.

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Investors considering private market investments should explicitly consider secondary liquidity when setting target weights, diversification and exit expectations. Portfolios that embrace secondaries can be more nimble: partial realisations can fund new allocations without additional capital calls and selective secondary purchases can provide exposure to de-risked, near-term value. That said, secondary transactions require discipline: accurate valuation inputs, an understanding of lock-up provisions and tax consequences and the ability to assess counterparty credibility. For wholesale investors, building relationships with reputable platforms and specialist secondaries teams will be a defining feature of successful private market investing in the coming years.

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Secondary liquidity’s rapid evolution represents an important maturation of private markets. Liquidity is no longer binary; it’s a continuum enabled by platforms, GP innovation and institutional capital. For wholesale investors, secondary trading is now a legitimate, strategic tool for portfolio construction—one that enables active management, improved risk control and better capital reallocation. As Australia’s private-market infrastructure strengthens and regulatory frameworks evolve, the role of secondary trading will expand further. Investors who master the nuances of both structured and open-platform transactions will find themselves better positioned to harness private-market returns without being hostage to long, uncertain exit timelines. No longer is liquidity deferred or denied, rather, liquidity is now designed.

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For companies and managed funds that are not listed on a stock exchange, the PrimaryMarkets trading Platform is an ideal way to facilitate the off-market sale of shares in your company and units in managed funds.

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PrimaryMarkets is a flexible and evolving Platform that responds in real time to an ever-changing investment environment. In doing so, it provides sophisticated investors with access to companies that are shaping the future in a wide variety of industries and sectors. We provide access to opportunities previously only accessible to institutional investors. In addition to trading, PrimaryMarkets helps companies raise capital from our global investor database.

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PrimaryMarkets exemplifies how innovation can transform the way we invest, trade and raise capital by breaking down traditional barriers, providing liquidity solutions and promoting transparency.

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As the Platform continues to grow and evolve, it promises to unlock even more opportunities for investors and companies shaping the future of economies.

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And that brings us to the end of this episode of Unlocking Liquidity. Thanks for spending your time with us, we hope today’s conversation gave you a fresh perspective on private markets and how liquidity is evolving. If you enjoyed the episode, please follow or subscribe wherever you listen, and feel free to share it with someone who’d get value from it. For more insights, opportunities and episodes, visit PrimaryMarkets. Until next time, thanks for listening, and we’ll see you in the next conversation.