Glossary · Regional
Dry powder
Definition
Capital that dedicated secondary funds have raised but not yet deployed — a measure of how much buying capacity is sitting on the sidelines waiting for deals.
Why it matters for a secondary
APAC's dedicated secondary funds are estimated to hold roughly three years of dry powder at the current deal pace (Jefferies) — a useful gauge of how much room the buy side has to keep absorbing deals like the ones in this tracker.
How it works in practice
Dry powder is capital committed by investors to a fund but not yet invested. For secondaries it is a measure of buy-side capacity: high uncalled capital across dedicated funds means transactions have willing buyers even when other exit routes are closed, and pricing holds up better than the underlying supply of sellers alone would suggest.
A concrete illustration
If dedicated regional funds hold roughly three years of buying capacity at current deal volumes, a wave of sellers arriving in one quarter is likely to be absorbed rather than to collapse pricing. If that ratio were measured in months instead, the same wave would move prices considerably.
What people most often get wrong
Dry powder is a capacity measure, not a commitment to deploy. Funds can and do wait, and a large uncalled balance held by managers who consider prices too high supports nothing. Read it alongside actual transaction volumes rather than on its own.
Frequently asked questions
Does high dry powder mean prices stay firm?
Where do dry powder estimates come from?
Orientation for investors and allocators, not legal or financial advice. Rules in this market change — confirm the current position with a licensed adviser in Regionalbefore acting on anything here.