As 2026 begins, private equity has entered a different negotiating room. The market has long operated with GPs topping hard caps with funds oversubscribed in rapid-fire raises. Now, amid a persistent exit backlog and a thirst for liquidity, the traditional fundraising model is shifting to one where LPs are increasingly voting with their feet, fund advisers tell Real Deals. On both sides of transactions, there is a greater cautiousness driving a more “strategic” approach to spending on advisers, says a partner at a European law firm, with sellers testing new DD names with fewer overheads, and preferring off-market deals to formally-run auctions. Though the caution is universal, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to solving it. Dr Jan Schinköth, partner and chair of Goodwin’s Munich office, shares that managers in Germany have begun prepackaging deals with extensive vendor due diligence and even stapling NBIs and W&I insurance to de-risk the process for buyers and get them to engage earlier and more intensively. By making the buyer’s DD more confirmatory, the firms hope to secure deals and save in the long run, even if the initial cost is higher.