As we look back on 2025, markets have exceeded expectations with the S&P climbing, and jobless rates hitting a three-year low.^* Investment firms continue to consolidate, grow, and flourish. Assets under management (AUM) across alternatives have more than doubled over the past decade, reaching $18.2 trillion in 2024, with Preqin projecting $29.2 trillion by 2029,^** primarily driven in large part by the success of raising capital from the retail channel.

Contrary to concerns about the difficult college graduate job market or widespread labor replacement by AI, hiring remains robust across alternative investments, particularly in credit, multi-strategy hedge funds, sector-focused long/short investment professionals, as well as middle- and lower-middle market private equity. Marketing and investor relations hiring, through the proliferation of specialized roles and product expertise, has also seen strong demand across the industry. Simply put, skilled professionals remain the hottest ticket in town (Four Charles reservations aside).

Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that year-end compensation continues to show strong momentum, as reflected in our 2025 Private Equity Compensation survey, with total cash compensation expected to increase for individual investment professionals by 10% on average in 2025.^*** These trends are further supported by preliminary findings from our upcoming Marketing & IR report, as well as year-end conversations with HR professionals and candidates.

One area seeing particularly notable growth is the secondaries market. In this issue, we take a closer look at secondaries and explore the implications for hiring and talent, including rising demand for investment bankers, buyout PE juniors, and senior investment professionals as firms build new platforms and scale existing teams.

Even with these positive trends, many are feeling cautious. One area to watch is the availability of international talent. Here, we also examine recent developments in legislation affecting the H-1B visa program. Despite the headlines, we anticipate that the impact of these proposed changes on investment hiring will remain limited. That said, potential policy shifts warrant careful monitoring.

Looking ahead to 2026, on-cycle hiring for first-year bankers has yet to begin, and the timing remains uncertain, though it will very likely take place in Q1 2026. Despite some resistance from banks like J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America to early recruiting, data from Odyssey’s 2025 survey shows first-year bankers remain motivated to transition to the buyside. Only 1% plan not to explore new roles due to this year’s bank policies, and most candidates are still planning to participate in on-cycle. While the later start may give junior bankers additional time to prepare, questions remain about whether private equity firms will maintain the same level of demand and look to fill similar class sizes as in previous years.

Overall, 2025 has been a strong year for the industry, but evolving macroeconomic factors reinforce the importance of thoughtful planning and flexibility as we enter 2026. These factors include November’s dip in consumer confidence and rising job concerns, continued uncertainty around interest rates, coupled with political change in New York City with a new mayor being sworn in on January 1^st, and ongoing technological disruption from AI. While these factors call for caution, the fundamentals remain solid, and many aspects of the market continue to move in the right direction. The resulting mood for year-end 2025 is a sense of cautious optimism as we look ahead.

We hope you enjoy the holiday season and look forward to staying in touch in the New Year.

The Odyssey Search Partners Team