Nothing Is Fundamentally Broken … Yet Again

If you follow me on LinkedIn , you’ve probably seen some of my weekly musings on the state of the private equity industry. One post from earlier this year struck a particular nerve. Titled “It’s Time to Clean Out the PE Attic,” it began with this observation: “There’s a musty corner in every LP’s private equity portfolio—a collection of tail-end buyout funds that quietly aged past their prime.” That post went somewhat viral nearly five months ago, and the question I’d ask today is whether the attic has gotten any cleaner. Today on Dry Powder , we’ll strip away the emotions around tariffs and examine the underlying market data. I’ll also discuss whether 2026 could mark a return to exits and dealmaking at scale.

You can listen to Nothing Is Fundamentally Broken … Yet Again online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Nothing Is Fundamentally Broken … Yet Again is an episode from Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast by Bain & Company.

This episode is 00:05:45 long.

This episode was published on Dec 16, 2025.

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