Goldman Sachs has launched a new secondaries advisory franchise across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), marking a significant expansion of its private markets advisory services. The move reflects the growing importance of secondary transactions in global private equity markets, where investors increasingly seek liquidity options for traditionally illiquid assets.
According to an internal memo cited by SAT, the firm has appointed Andrei Brougham, formerly of Rothschild & Co, as Managing Director within its mergers and acquisitions division to lead the initiative. Brougham will be joined by Benedict van Hovell tot Westerflier, recently hired as Executive Director. The duo will oversee activity across private equity and infrastructure secondaries, with a particular emphasis on continuation vehicles, which enable existing investors to roll over or reinvest in mature assets.
A secondaries advisory franchise provides strategic advice to investors buying or selling stakes in existing private equity and alternative investment funds. This segment of the market has grown steadily over the past decade as institutional investors, including pension funds and sovereign wealth funds, seek flexibility in managing their private market portfolios.
While public markets benefit from high liquidity and daily trading, private equity investments are typically held for several years and are more difficult to trade. However, the secondary market is beginning to close this liquidity gap. In 2025, approximately 1.4 per cent of assets under management across buyout, venture capital, private credit, real estate and infrastructure funds were expected to trade on the secondary market, up from an average of 0.9 per cent between 2014 and 2024.
Data from Preqin and Evercore indicates that the secondaries fundraising environment remains robust. An S&P report released last year found that by mid-2025, funds had already raised about 38.8 billion US dollars, putting total fundraising for the year on track to exceed 60 billion US dollars. These figures highlight a deepening appetite among institutional investors for liquidity management tools and flexible capital strategies.
The development also carries implications for Africa’s private investment landscape. As African infrastructure, technology and energy funds mature, the emergence of secondaries could provide a critical liquidity mechanism for investors across the continent. This is particularly relevant in markets such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt, where local private equity ecosystems continue to expand yet remain constrained by exit opportunities. Goldman Sachs’ new EMEA franchise may, therefore, create potential linkages for African fund managers seeking broader access to global capital markets and secondaries expertise.
By positioning itself as a strategic advisor in this growing field, Goldman Sachs is responding to structural shifts in global finance, where private markets are increasingly central to long term capital allocation. Its expansion underscores the continued evolution of the EMEA investment ecosystem and the rising significance of Africa within that framework.
As the secondary market develops further, its role in democratising access to liquidity and broadening participation in alternative investments will be a critical dimension of financial modernisation across the region.
