Podcast Summary

Podcast: Alt Goes Mainstream

Episode: AGM Unscripted: Goldman Sachs' Harold Hope - Secondaries: A Primary Consideration
Host: Michael Sidgmore
Guest: Harold Hope, Global Head of Vintage Strategies, Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Date: February 12, 2026

Overview

In this episode, Michael Sidgmore interviews Harold Hope, Head of Vintage Strategies at Goldman Sachs, exploring the evolving landscape of secondaries within private markets. The discussion dives into market growth, innovation, skill sets required for success, the mechanics and misconceptions of continuation vehicles (CVs), Goldman's recent acquisition of Industry Ventures, technology’s rising importance, and the role of secondaries as a key entry point for broader wealth management channels. Harold shares candid insights drawn from over 25 years in the business, emphasizing both the problem-solving DNA of secondaries and the transformative impact the strategy has had—and continues to have—on private markets.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Evolution & Innovation in Secondaries

• Origins and Market Growth

  • Harold describes his entry into secondaries at a time when the market was a fraction of today's size, managing a $400M fund when annual volume was $2B.
  • Quote (Harold, 01:36): “The market back then was maybe like $2 billion a year in volume...That’s what I’ve been doing for the last 25 years.”

• Drivers of Change

  • The most significant change is the sheer size and scale—driven by the overall expansion of private markets and the resulting demand for liquidity.
  • Innovation is a continuous response to complex, illiquidity-driven problems.
  • Continuation vehicles (CVs), structured secondaries, and preferred equity are cited as recent industry innovations.
  • Quote (Harold, 02:19): “The secondary market has done a really good job of viewing itself as a liquidity provider and being very open minded and flexible about what that means.”

• Sources of Innovation

  • True innovation happens when the market solves for illiquidity or structural investment problems.
  • Quote (Harold, 03:49): "It’s really about problem solving…The secondary market has said, well, you know what, actually we can figure out a way to do this…so what I love about this industry, it is a solutions-oriented industry."

Skill Sets in Secondaries

• Fundamental skill: Valuation of illiquid assets. There’s no daily mark, so expertise in pricing is critical.
• Beyond valuation: Problem solving, negotiation, structuring, and relationship-building with asset owners and managers.
• Importance of consensus: Many secondary deals require all parties to agree.
• Quote (Harold, 04:50): “Most of our team’s time is spent valuing private companies. But that’s not enough…you’ve got to problem solve, negotiate, be flexible, come up with new structures, identify great opportunities.”

Approaches to Secondaries: Value vs. Quality

• The market rationally prices risk and quality—low-quality portfolios demand bigger discounts, high-quality assets may trade close to par.
• Portfolio strategies should balance both value (discounted opportunities) and quality (exceptional assets/case-by-case continuation vehicles).
• Quote (Harold, 06:11): “You can’t do both. You can’t buy great assets at a discount…if you have a portfolio that is lower quality…that’s going to require a bigger discount to get liquid on that…We think a portfolio should have both.”

Continuation Vehicles (CVs): Mechanics & Misconceptions (07:14–10:44)

• CVs are often misunderstood as vehicles of last resort—when in fact, they often allow GPs to hold high-performing companies for longer, aligning with both LP and GP interests.

• Fundraising cycles pressure GPs to exit their best companies prematurely; CVs solve for this by providing liquidity and enabling ongoing value creation.

• Quote (Harold, 07:55): “One of the use cases for continuation vehicles is really offering a manager another alternative…to prove you can generate some DPI, but also to continue to manage that asset and continue to participate in the value creation.”

• The trend of companies staying private longer—the secondary market and CVs facilitate this, especially for high-growth, “buy and build” strategies.

Expansion into Venture & Growth Secondaries (10:47–12:01)

• Harold discusses Goldman’s acquisition of Industry Ventures, describing it as the completion of their “multi-strategy build out.”
• Venture and growth secondaries are a rapidly expanding opportunity, in line with the overall growth and maturation of the venture category.
• Specialization: To win in the future, secondary platforms need dedicated teams for categories such as private equity, credit, infrastructure, real estate, and venture/growth.
• Quote (Harold, 10:58): “We just think the opportunity set in venture and growth secondaries is growing pretty dramatically… Industry Ventures is a way for us to complete that multi-strategy build out.”

The Value of Specialized Teams & Goldman's Platform (12:01–14:28)

• Managers want partners who “speak their language” and understand the nuances of their asset class, whether that's real estate, credit, or venture.
• Different assets require different capital and expertise—one pool can’t do it all.
• Scale matters: with over 100 investment professionals and a deep database analyzed by AI, Goldman's reach and resources enable unique solutions.
• Quote (Harold, 13:46): “The ability to be large, to solve problems for people at scale, the ability to invest in your business in only the way a large business can...having access to all the insights around Goldman…is a pretty powerful platform.”

Role of Data & Technology (14:28–15:47)

• Technology—especially AI—enables efficient analysis of massive, complex portfolios (e.g., 400-company portfolios).
• The secondaries market is still far from fully standardized or “tradeable” like bank loans; manager interests and documentation standardization are barriers.
• Quote (Harold, 14:42): “I would stipulate it’s more important in secondaries than in any other part of private markets because we’re the part... that buy portfolios in scale…”

Market Structure & Future Growth (15:47–16:46)

• Illiquidity, custom transactions, and idiosyncratic liquidity needs (e.g., endowments facing denominator effect) keep the market bespoke.
• The current market exhibits unusually high demand for liquidity due to a lack of distributions.
• Secondaries volume expected to exceed $200B, with a potential to go much higher as the private asset pool expands.
• Quote (Harold, 16:46): “I think this year we’re going to end up with probably over $200 billion in volume. Could it go…to $500 [billion]? It easily could because the denominator…has tripled over the last 10 years.”

Secondaries as a Wealth Channel Entry Point (17:08–18:09)

• Secondaries provide attractive, diversified exposure for wealth managers and retail investors—instant dollar diversification and appealing risk/return.
• Strategy can perform well in both bull markets and periods of dislocation due to its flexible, liquidity-providing role.
• Quote (Harold, 17:37): “It is a strategy that provides a lot of instant diversification and I think has a good sort of risk return trade off…can deploy capital when times are good…as well as in times of dislocation.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Innovation:
  “Every time there’s been an innovation it’s been because there’s been some problem and people don’t know how to fix it…this industry…is a solutions oriented industry.”
  (Harold Hope, 00:00 & 03:49)

• On Market Rationality:
  “The market is rational. If you have a portfolio…that’s going to require a bigger discount to get liquid on that. If you have higher quality assets, those should trade at smaller discounts.”
  (Harold Hope, 06:18)

• On the Power of Scale and Technology at Goldman:
  “The ability to invest in your business in only the way a large business can…having over 100 people on your investment team or having 14 engineers, or having a huge database that goes back 30 years and mining that with data and AI…”
  (Harold Hope, 13:46)

• On Secondaries and Wealth Management:
  “Secondaries does have a lot of appeal for folks in the retail channel because it is a strategy that provides a lot of instant diversification and…has good sort of risk return trade off.”
  (Harold Hope, 17:37)

Important Timestamps

• 00:00–03:22: Origins & evolution of secondaries; innovation as problem-solving
• 04:43–05:42: Key skillsets in secondaries—valuation, negotiation, relationship management
• 06:11–07:14: Approaches to secondaries—balancing discount/value with asset quality
• 07:14–10:44: Continuation vehicles—misconceptions and real-world use cases
• 10:47–12:01: Expansion into venture/growth secondaries (Industry Ventures acquisition)
• 12:01–14:28: Importance of specialty teams; Goldman's unique market platform
• 14:28–15:47: Data, AI, and technological enablement in modern secondaries
• 15:47–16:46: Market structure, liquidity needs, projected future growth
• 17:08–18:09: Secondaries as an entry for wealth/retail investors

Conclusion

Harold Hope illuminates the critical, rapidly evolving role of secondaries in private markets, emphasizing innovation, specialized skill sets, and the growing importance of data and technology. With structural shifts—such as companies staying private longer and the proliferation of CVs—secondaries increasingly provide essential liquidity and flexibility in a booming private market ecosystem. Goldman’s expansive platform, focus on specialization, and technological edge represent a model for scaling solutions, while the “wealth channel” stands poised as the next major on-ramp for alternative investment access.