directionally right, but worth highlighting a few things:
1/ based on my experience, allocators are actually asking about DPI. it's the number one DD question if you're raising Fund II+ nowadays
2/ managers did find ways to give liquidity, but with the caveats from your original post (aka the bid you might not like) + a few things below:
> US direct secondaries went from $50B annualized in Q4 2024 to $107B in Q2 2026, but concentration is really high: top-20 names are 86% of trading value (h/t @PitchBook)
> venture is starting to import CVs at the top end (e.g. NEA, Lightspeed), bc the mark survives and carry crystallizes, but it's relatively small and kinda "marginal", imho
> strip sales, where pricing is pro-rata and nobody sets their own price, stayed flat
3/ this problem is more common where fee income makes carry optional (aka mega funds). many emerging managers don't have that cushion and are usually fine with a partial sale, because it often becomes the catalyst for the next raise
4/ and finally, the next 18 months will be telling. SpaceX already went out, OpenAI and Anthropic are queued, and the market is broadly optimistic about the liquidity window opening. if 2020–21 vintage DPI still doesn't move, that defense is gone
p.s. there's a great video where @MKRocks from @CendanaCapital on @TurnerNovak's podcast explains how managers should think about selling portfolio positions and early DPI:
Video
Will Quist (@wquist)
If DPI really mattered, we'd have lots of DPI. If folks really cared, they'd have demanded it by now. Holding and riding markups suits everyone just fine. Sure, eventually you need real cash back. But eventually is doing a lot of work.
Outcomes, meet incentives.
— https://nitter.net/wquist/status/2085400249527676930#m