Macquarie Launches Secondaries Advisory Arm to Capitalize on GP-Led Liquidity Surge

The establishment of Macquarie’s secondaries advisory business under Steven Westerback is a strategic response to the accelerating adoption of GP-led secondaries solutions in private equity. Westerback—former co-head of secondaries at Atlantic-Pacific Capital and with prior experience at UBS and as a secondary investment professional—brings deep technical and executional expertise [8][1]. This suggests Macquarie sees the advisory opportunity as core to its financial sponsors franchise, rather than a peripheral offering.

At its core, the new unit will focus on continuation vehicles and other secondary market structures, enabling general partners to retain high-quality portfolio assets while providing liquidity to limited partners. The role formalizes Macquarie’s service to private capital clients, fitting alongside its existing private markets, capital markets, fund finance, and principal investing arms [1][2].

Market data underpins Macquarie’s strategy: secondary market activity in 2024 surpassed $162 billion in closed transactions globally, with GP-led deals increasing ~44% YoY to roughly $75 billion, and LP-led transactions making up the majority share yet growing in tandem [3][9]. Single-asset continuation vehicles made up nearly half of GP-led activity and garnered strong pricing, evidencing clear demand for sponsor flexibility and selective asset retention [3].

Strategically, Macquarie’s entry raises competitive stakes. Other large investment banks and advisory firms, including Goldman Sachs and Jefferies, are scaling up secondaries advisory operations—both for GP-led and LP-led transactions—and sponsor demand is pushing advisory firms to offer more sophisticated structuring, valuation, and alignment services [4][5][10].

Open questions include: how Macquarie will differentiate in structuring and execution versus established players, how funding and buyer pools will respond to growing supply, whether GP-led continuation vehicles can sustain pricing in volatile markets, and which sectors/geographies will drive growth in GP-led solutions.