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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| Good morning. In today's Daily Pitch, we break down CVC Capital Partners' push into private wealth, a notable quarter for enterprise SaaS and the acceleration of VC secondaries. |
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| More fund bosses lean on crypto startups as tokenization wave surges |
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| Carlos Domingo, CEO of tokenization specialist Securitize (Courtesy of Chase Devens) |
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By Alexander Davis, Head of Enterprise Reporting
Crypto-focused entrepreneurs are shaping up to be among the newest and most innovative players driving a generational transformation of the private fund industry.
At the center of the trend is the growing issuance of digital tokens, recorded on a blockchain, that represent an investor's ownership of shares in a fund, stock, bond or other financial asset.
Tokens bridge the gap between the worlds of traditional and decentralized finance, as they can be traded with other digital assets once they're "on-chain," to use industry parlance.
Roughly $3 billion in private market assets are held in tokens—10 times higher than the level a year ago—according to data provided by RWA.xyz, an industry tracker.
Tokenization advocates, from BlackRock's Larry Fink to SEC commissioner Paul Atkins, are hailing the innovation in digital asset management as a game-changer for modernizing and streamlining the workflows of an antiquated industry.
Gaining market momentum over the past couple of years, digital platforms that help private funds raise capital through individuals highlight managers' growing reliance on fintech innovators to open up the once-exclusive world of alternative investments—at scale—to a vastly larger new segment of the investing public.
BlackRock is also an investor, along with Hamilton Lane, in Miami-based Securitize, the leading fintech startup providing tokenization of real-world assets and a range of fund administration services.
Just days ago, Securitize said it would go public through a reverse merger with a Cantor Fitzgerald-backed SPAC, valuing the 8-year-old company at $1.25 billion pre-money.
Securitize is the latest digital asset management specialist to announce plans to go public, following deals by crypto-focused Bullish, Circle and Gemini. |
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| A message from West Monroe |
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| From roll-ups to results: How PE wins in residential services now |
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Essential services—from HVAC and plumbing to pest control—are fueling one of private equity’s most resilient and fast-growing markets. But the playbook is changing. Today’s value creation comes not from roll-ups, but from disciplined scaling, digital transformation, and workforce enablement. Investors who modernize technology, empower frontline teams, and standardize operations are building platforms that outperform on growth and margin. Success now depends on execution—connecting people, processes, and data to create lasting value. The next decade in residential services belongs to those who operate smarter, not just bigger.
Ready to turn your next investment into a platform for performance? Start transforming value today. Read more here |
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• VC exit value in the enterprise SaaS market shot up in Q3 as AI fundamentally changes business software, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research. See what else our analysts discovered
• A record number of Americans are hitting retirement age. We caught up with the CEO of Aquarian Capital, which views this as the latest growth opportunity for PE. Read more
• CVC Capital Partners is accelerating its push into private wealth, increasing its AUM from individual investors by 69% in Q3 to around €3 billion (about $3.5 billion). Find out more
• Interest income from payment-in-kind loans fell for the third quarter in a row at business development companies, PitchBook LCD found. Read more |
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| Wall Street bets big on VC secondaries as market hits $95B |
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By Emily Zheng, Senior Venture Capital Analyst
The US venture secondary market is accelerating, reaching an estimated $95 billion in annual value across direct company stakes and continuation funds in Q3, according to our latest US VC Secondary Market Watch.
Direct company secondary transactions jumped over 31% from the previous quarter.
Rising valuations for top startups and persistent liquidity pressure are driving record deal flow, and both Wall Street and retail investors are piling in.
In October, Goldman Sachs acquired Industry Ventures, a pioneer in VC secondaries, marking the first time a major bank has bought a dedicated secondaries firm.
Within weeks, Morgan Stanley and Charles Schwab followed with deals to purchase secondaries marketplaces EquityZen and Forge Global, respectively—moves that expand their offerings in the highly sought-after private market and bolster their wealth management capabilities. |
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Smaller investors eager to access top-tier private companies have piled into special purpose vehicles. The number of secondary SPVs grew 682% and capital raised increased 1,340% over the last two years, according to data from Sydecar.
While the acceleration underscores a growing appetite for secondaries, the market remains relatively small compared to primary VC investing—just 2.2% of total unicorn valuations and 32% of primary exit value over the last 12 months.
Instead of spreading wider, the market has concentrated. The top 20 most actively traded startups account for nearly 96% of deal value, with the top five capturing 74% over the last four quarters, according to data from Hiive.
Late-stage companies in the AI, defense and fintech sectors dominate investor demand, thanks to policy tailwinds, while most other startups face deep discounts and thin trading activity.
With $3.7 trillion in value still locked in unicorn startups, secondaries are well positioned to evolve into a core pillar of the VC ecosystem. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• 2026 will be the worst job market for fresh college graduates since the pandemic era, employers predict. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows that companies are not optimistic about hiring trends for next year. [The Wall Street Journal]
• Chinese restrictions are bringing a rare earth mineral into the spotlight. Manufacturers and suppliers are concerned about a worldwide shortage of the element yttrium, which is used in engines and temperature shielding. [Reuters]
• Anthropic says it thwarted "a highly sophisticated espionage campaign" choreographed by AI. In a blog post last week, the San Francisco-based startup behind Claude detailed the attack on the model and how it was shut down. [ | | | | | | | |
