Positioned for the Challenge: Capital Under Management & Dry Powder 2025

Capital Under Management (CUM) reached €1,367bn in 2025, spread across 3,243 firms. €459bn of this constituted Dry Powder (DP), which represents 93% of the amount invested by European private equity firms between 2022-2025. The remainder – €908bn – is Portfolio At Cost (PAC). The historical trend shows that from 2014 CUM has consistently grown year-on-year, with an 8% increase between 2024 and 2025.

Within both DP and PAC, funds located in the UK & Ireland held the most amount of capital (46% & 53% of respective totals) in 2025, with funds from France & Benelux being the next largest amount (23% & 24% of respective totals). Between 2016-2025 the breakdown of PAC and DP by region has been relatively steady.

Buyout funds in Europe kept the most amount of CUM of all fund stage focuses, with €307bn of DP and €557bn of PAC in 2025. The historical trend shows that this fund stage focus has represented a minimum of 60% of DP and 60% of PAC for any given year. Venture funds had the second largest amount of DP in 2025 (€66bn), whilst in the case of PAC this was Growth funds (€124bn).

Funds reaching final closing of size >€1bn within Buyout held the majority of Buyout CUM in 2025 (€506bn). Dealing with the other fund stage focuses, the fund size ranges holding the largest amount of CUM in 2025 were: >€1bn for Growth (€38bn), and €100-250m for Venture (€34bn). Within Generalist funds, the distribution of capital was more spread across several size ranges.

Funds with vintage years 2022-2025 that registered final closings held the majority of total DP for 2025: €220bn, or 67% of the total since vintage year 2016. Time taken for funds to see DP as a percentage of funds raised to date below 30% is roughly consistent across vintages studied: around 5-6 years. Funds take between 6 and 7 years to reach their maximum PAC as percentage of funds raised to date.

Follow-on funds have historically held most DP & PAC when compared to First-time funds. In 2025, Follow-on funds held 89% of DP and 79% of PAC. In recent years, First-time funds have seen consistent growth in CUM, reaching a total of €246bn in 2025. Since 2016, 1,728 new First-time funds have entered the market. Pension funds were the largest contributor of uncalled commitments* (23%) for the year 2025, followed by Fund of funds & Other asset managers (20%). Sources of funds to DP in 2025 vary depending on both geography and fund stage focus.

* Often referred to as Dry Powder.