(Substack)—Private equity has weathered a tough stretch, with dealmaking grinding to a halt amid high interest rates and economic uncertainty. Yet even as exits remain elusive and global buyout activity dipped in the second quarter of 2025, major players in the industry are pouring resources into building their teams—especially in areas like fundraising, investor relations, and marketing. This push reflects a calculated bet on brighter days ahead, as firms position themselves to capitalize on the nearly $1.2 trillion in dry powder sitting idle, waiting for the right opportunities.
The hiring surge picked up steam in the first half of 2025, according to recruitment firm Magellan Advisory Partners. While buyout deal values in April fell 24% below the first-quarter average and deal counts dropped 22%, thanks in part to tariff-related jitters, private equity leaders aren’t sitting still. Instead, they’re aggressively raiding Wall Street for fresh talent, interviewing even first-year analysts for starts as far out as 2026.
“While deal flow is cyclical, the need to secure capital is permanent — firms are investing ahead of the curve,” explains Sasha Jensen, founder and CEO of executive search firm Jensen Partners. Jensen’s point drives home how these investments in people aren’t reactive but proactive, ensuring that when markets thaw, these firms have the firepower to attract investors and close funds swiftly.
This focus on fundraising expertise makes sense in a landscape where limited partners are holding back liquidity. Jensen adds that “fundraising distribution teams are ‘central to survival’ in the current constrained, limited partner liquidity environment.”
Elaborating on this, she notes the high stakes: without strong teams to pitch to institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals, even the biggest funds risk stalling out. Christopher Connors, a principal at Connors Consulting Partners, echoes this urgency, stating that “firms are happy over-paying for fundraising talent.” For Connors, the math checks out—”It can be a large expense to the firm, but relative to how much revenue these people could bring in, it’s a good deed to the firm”—turning what might seem like a costly bet into a revenue engine that pays dividends down the line.
The talent grab extends far beyond U.S. borders, with firms chasing growth in emerging markets. Apollo Global Management is bolstering its presence in Japan and across Asia, while Warburg Pincus and Carlyle Group are ramping up hires there too. New outposts are sprouting in Singapore and Mumbai, and North American recruitment has already outpaced levels from mid-2022 and 2023. Chris Eldridge, CEO of North America, Ireland, and U.K. recruitment at Robert Walters, observes that “international expansion is a common thread, with firms in the U.S. expanding into Asia and vice versa.
Similarly, U.K. private equity firms often first target the U.S. before moving to Asia.” This pattern underscores a strategic pivot: as domestic deals dry up, global diversification becomes essential, drawing skilled professionals to fuel operations in high-potential regions like Southeast Asia and India. Europe’s scene is perking up as well, buoyed by the Bank of England’s five rate cuts since last August, which could unlock more activity on that front.
Wall Street banks, long a prime hunting ground for private equity, are pushing back hard against the poaching. Goldman Sachs now demands that junior bankers certify every three months that they haven’t lined up jobs elsewhere, a direct response to the allure of buyout firms. JPMorgan Chase is taking even tougher steps, threatening to fire incoming analysts who accept future-dated offers within their first 18 months or skip training sessions for interviews.
CEO Jamie Dimon has called such behavior “unethical,” highlighting the friction as banks shorten promotion tracks to two and a half years to keep talent in-house. Private equity’s counter? Building their own training programs, as Jensen points out: “Banks like Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are tightening mobility, and [private equity firms] are responding by building in-house training programs.”
Not every firm can play this game at the same level. Connors points out a clear divide: “I think there’s a clear bifurcation between the largest firms [that are multi-strategy], and have economies of scale that can afford to hire.” The giants, flush with scale and undeployed capital exceeding $1 trillion in equity strategies alone, hold the advantage, per PitchBook data. A key draw for these recruits is carried interest, the performance-based pay unique to private markets.
As Connors describes it, “It’s a significant economic vehicle that lures talent to the space. It’s an economic vehicle that just doesn’t exist in the investment banking world, and it doesn’t exist in traditional asset management. It’s unique to the private markets industry.”
Fundraising itself remains a slog, with no buyout funds topping $5 billion in the first quarter—the first such quarter in a decade—and over 18,000 funds chasing $3.3 trillion from investors, creating intense competition for every dollar. Still, this talent offensive signals resilience. With exits lagging and dry powder piling up—now at levels unseen in years—private equity is laying the groundwork for a rebound that could reshape industries once policy clarity returns and rates continue to ease. In an era of economic headwinds, these moves show how private capital stays agile, ready to drive growth when the moment arrives.
