Alternative Private Equity Structures: Continuation Funds, GP-Led Secondaries, and Other Structured Liquidity Solutions
Structuring and Negotiating Alternative Private Equity Structures for Investment Managers and Investors Seeking Liquidity Solutions
About the Course
Introduction
This CLE course will analyze the current state of the investment market that has given rise to alternative private equity structures focused on liquidity, such as continuation funds, GP-led secondaries, and other structured liquidity solutions. The panel will review the mechanics and the pros and cons of these alternative structures.
Description
As the private equity industry matures, general partners seek longer-dated funding sources for their investments and themselves for several reasons. They want to reduce fundraising costs, provide for more certainty of capital, and ensure more time to enhance the value of their portfolio companies and better time exits with the market cycle.
Continuation funds—once a niche liquidity solution for private capital sponsors—are now a mainstream portfolio management and exit tool. The 2025 calendar year closed with $226 billion in transaction volume, up 41% from 2024. Continuation funds (also referred to as continuation vehicles or CVs) permit general partners to hold portfolio companies past the term of a fund and possibly invest new capital while returning capital to investors.
Other structured liquidity solutions are expanding rapidly. Sponsors are taking advantage of other structured liquidity solutions like preferred equity transactions, collateralized fund obligations and tender offers.
GP-led secondaries are among the fastest-growing segments of the market, changing how sponsors manage assets and how limited partners (LPs) access liquidity. Often executed through a continuation vehicle, a GP-led secondary allows a general partner to transfer one or more portfolio companies into a new vehicle that other LPs can either sell or reinvest while bringing in new secondary capital.
Given the accelerating interest and permanence of alternative private equity structures, it is imperative for counsel to understand how these structures work, what drives interest and deal friction, and how investors and sponsors should evaluate alternative equity structures moving forward.
Listen as our authoritative panel of practitioners discusses the structure, benefits, and pitfalls of these alternative fund structures. The panel will compare and contrast these alternative structures and discuss how they fit the current fundraising landscape.
Presented By
Mr. Block is a partner in Willkie’s Asset Management Department. He is based in the Firm's New York office. Mr. Block focuses his practice on advising clients on complex GP-led and LP-led secondary transactions and other liquidity solutions, as well as traditional private equity fund formation. He regularly advises fund sponsors on the formation and operation of continuation funds, private equity funds, real estate funds, credit funds, distressed funds and seed capital funds. Mr. block has advised on fund raises ranging in size from under $100 million to over $30 billion and has advised clients in connection with the entire fundraise lifecycle, including end of term GP-led portfolio company restructurings. In addition, he has advised clients in GP-stakes transactions and seeding arrangements, including minority investments, seed capital transactions, and strategic partnership arrangements. Mr. Block has also advised institutional limited partners and family offices in connection with investments in the alternative investment space. He has been recognized by the Legal 500 for secondaries and other liquidation solutions focused transactions, as well as private equity fund formation.
Mr. Farhadieh is a partner in the Asset Management Group. He has extensive experience in advising private fund managers on all aspects of the structuring and formation of a wide range of domestic and international investment funds, managed accounts, investment management arrangements, incentivization plans, management company arrangements, co-investment arrangements, and related regulatory compliance across a broad range of investment strategies, and geographic areas including U.S., Europe and Emerging Markets. Mr. Farhadieh routinely advises sponsors on a broad range of strategic transactions, including continuation funds, fund recapitalizations and restructurings, strip sales, GP-level preferred equity investments, NAV facilities, GP stake sales, joint ventures and spin-out transactions.
Mr. Kim is an associate in the Corporate and FinancialServices Department of Willkie Farr& Gallagher in New York. He has concentrated his practice on structuring and negotiating complex businesstransactions for middle-market companies and private equity clients,including mergers, acquisitions,leveraged buyouts and debt and equityfinancings.
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. Continuation funds
II. General partner-led secondaries
III. Other liquidity solutions
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- What are the market factors causing investors to look more closely at alternative private equity fundraising structures?
- What advantages do these structures present for general partners and investors?
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