CV squared vehicles make liquidity more repeatable as traditional exits stall
GP-led continuation vehicles (CVs) now account for 86% of GP-led secondaries activity, according to investment bank Raymond James Private Capital Advisory team
‘CV squared’ funds (CV2s) extend holding periods, with sponsors rolling assets forward amid subdued IPOs and sponsor exits
Raymond James says CV2s could turn 'a one-time liquidity solution into a repeatable ownership model, but LPs should demand stronger disclosure'
June 10, 2026 (Preqin First Close | Preqin News) – The growth of the secondaries market reflects a broader structural shift. Investors are increasingly planning periodic secondaries sales to fine-tune exposures and manage long-term private market asset allocations.
But another big part of the secondaries shift is GP-led continuation vehicles (CVs). The value of these funds grew from about $33bn in 2020 to approximately $73bn in 2024 globally – representing about 86% of GP-led activity in 2024 – according to Raymond James Private Capital Advisory’s ‘Exit Without Selling’ report.
A new version of the CV model is also emerging: so-called ‘CV squared’ (CV2) structures, where assets are rolled from one continuation vehicle into another managed by the same GP.
In the report, Raymond James says: ‘With the emergence of the first CV2 situations, what once sounded like market folklore now looks more like a real branch of the product set. CV2 transactions are still in their relative infancy, but their rise matters because it turns a one-time liquidity solution into a repeatable ownership model.’
The development of CV2 structures has developed partly due to the constrained exit environment. Despite some high-profile anticipated listings on the horizon, there were only 14 private equity-backed IPOs in Q1 2026, down from 29 in Q1 2025, according our to Private Equity Q1 2026 update. Sponsor-to-sponsor exits also remain subdued. Preqin data shows 113 transactions worth $32.2bn in the first quarter of 2026, down from $56.4bn a year earlier.
Against this backdrop, sponsors are holding onto high-quality assets for longer, delaying exits as they wait for pricing to improve, and the next phase of the market will show how durable CV2s will end up being. According to Raymond James Private Capital Advisory, the important signals of durability include sponsor-to-sponsor activity broadening beyond high-profile deals, LP rollover behavior diverging more meaningfully, pricing separating trophy assets from the rest of the field, and CV2s moving ‘from novelty to accepted practice without exhausting investor patience’.
The direction of travel is clear, with end-of-life assets no longer considered an operational phase, according to law firm Reed Smith. ‘It has become a point at which sponsors, LPs, and advisors must actively decide how value is realized, how conflicts are managed, and how investor confidence is preserved.’
Raymond James says LPs should question whether an asset deserves one extension, and more about what the credible end-state is: sale, IPO, strategic minority, or a truly long-duration structure.
It says in the report, ‘For repeat [CV2] deals, that raises the bar and LPs will increasingly want real delta disclosure: what changed since the first CV, what value remains, how economics and governance have evolved, and what milestones would justify yet another extension.’
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