Private Equity Insights
Secondary Market Opportunities for DACH Insurers
For many DACH insurers, the most important portfolio questions now in private holdings: venture positions, legacy fund interests, minority stakes and strategic investments linked to healthcare, life sciences, pharma, digital health, agri, software and specialist technology.
These are often positions built up over time: legacy fund interests, minority stakes, venture exposures and strategic investments linked to healthcare, life sciences, pharma, agri, digital health and technology. Many entered the balance sheet for good reasons. They offered access to innovation, proximity to new markets or insight into how insurance itself was changing.
But private assets have a way of changing character. What begins as strategic can become non-core. What once looked like a long-term fit can start to feel illiquid, subscale or simply misplaced.
That is why the secondary market has become more relevant for insurers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
A secondary market that has become part of the mainstream
The private equity secondary market is no longer a niche tool for distressed sellers. It has become a normal part of institutional portfolio management.
Private Equity Wire said the market was on track to reach up to $150 billion in 2024. By the first half of 2025, Setter Capital estimated transaction volume at $102.23 billion, while UBS put it at roughly $101 billion and suggested the market could exceed $200 billion for the full year.
That growth reflects a simple reality. Traditional exits are still there, but they are less predictable than they once were. Distributions have often been slower. Holding periods have stretched. Sponsors have responded with more flexible structures, including GP-led transactions and continuation vehicles. PitchBook’s data shows GP-led secondary transaction counts rising from 16 in 2020 to 89 in 2024.
For insurers, this matters not because every asset should be sold, but because every private portfolio now deserves a closer look.
Why this matters particularly for DACH insurers
This is not an abstract trend for the insurance sector. DACH insurers already hold private assets in exactly the sectors that are most relevant to this discussion.
PwC’s review of Swiss-headquartered insurers found that many transactions were concentrated in Europe, especially Switzerland and Germany, and that minority investments and partnerships were often the preferred structure. Those activities were not limited to narrow insurtech themes. They extended into health tech, wearables, mobility, AI, analytics, digital distribution and broader technology-enabled services.
Swiss Re has built positions and partnerships around digital health, wearables and health-related platforms. Zurich has focused on health tech, wellness, mobility, AI and fraud detection. Baloise has worked across mobility, analytics and business services. Helvetia and Mobiliar have used venture structures and partnerships to access proptech, fintech, embedded insurance and SME-focused technology.
The picture is clear: many insurers in the region are already holders of private assets with a healthcare, life sciences, pharma or technology component.
For Swiss insurers in particular, that overlap is even stronger. In several cases, the connection between insurance and healthcare technology is not peripheral. It is part of the operating ecosystem itself. Over time, though, not every one of these positions remains equally strategic.
A more selective market climate
The current backdrop makes portfolio discipline more important.
This is not really a story about abandoning US assets. That would be too simplistic. But it is a story about regional balance, concentration and fit. In a market shaped by geopolitical tension, policy uncertainty and more selective underwriting, institutions are paying closer attention to where assets sit and whether they still belong.
For DACH insurers, that naturally sharpens the question around European private holdings. Which assets still fit the balance sheet? Which remain strategic? Which have become legacy exposures that would make more sense in the hands of a specialist buyer?
That question is especially relevant in sectors such as healthcare, life sciences, pharma, agri and technology, where value is often clearer to a focused buyer than to generalist capital.
The secondary market as a portfolio tool
The useful thing about the secondary market is that it does not force a binary choice between “hold” and “sell”.
At its best, a secondary process begins with a review. Which positions are mature? Which are non-core? Which are too small to matter strategically, but too valuable to ignore? Which could attract interest from specialist investors, secondary funds, strategic buyers or family offices with sector expertise?
Some assets should be retained. Some may warrant partial liquidity. Others may be ready for a full placement.
That is why private equity secondaries for insurers are no longer just about liquidity. They are also about portfolio shape, capital efficiency and strategic focus.
Not all private holdings can be treated the same way.
A healthcare platform, a digital diagnostics business, a pharma-related stake, an agri-tech company or a specialist software asset each requires a different conversation with the market. These are not generic private equity positions. They are sector assets, and sector assets need to be framed, valued and introduced properly.
That is particularly true for insurers, whose private positions often sit in adjacent fields rather than in conventional buyout portfolios. In those cases, successful private equity placement depends on understanding both the asset and the likely buyer universe.
Breslin operates at the intersection of secondaries, private equity placements and sector-focused advisory, particularly across life sciences, healthcare, energy, non-cyclicals and technology. Its approach combines detailed portfolio review, valuation analysis, discreet execution and targeted access to buyers and investors. For insurers with private equity holdings in healthcare, life sciences, pharma, agri or technology, that makes the discussion much more practical.
Many DACH insurers are carrying private assets acquired in a different market mood: one with easier liquidity, faster exits and less sensitivity to geographic balance.
That mood has changed. The secondary market offers a way to respond without overreacting. It does not require a forced sale. But it does support a more active review of what should remain strategic and what may now be ready for placement.
For insurers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, especially those with holdings in healthcare, life sciences, pharma, agri and technology, now is a sensible time to review the portfolio carefully.
The question is no longer whether the secondary market is relevant, it is whether selected private equity investments could now be placed more deliberately.
Explore portfolio options in the secondary market
Learn how selected holdings in healthcare, life sciences, pharma, agri and technology can be reviewed and placed in a targeted way.
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