The private markets industry is undergoing a period of rapid consolidation, with a wave of acquisitions and strategic tie-ups concentrating assets, capabilities, and talent among a shrinking number of large platforms. BlackRock's acquisitions of Global Infrastructure Partners and HPS Investment Partners repositioned the world's largest asset manager into private markets at scale; TPG's combination with Angelo Gordon added credit expertise to a buyout-led franchise; CVC has expanded into secondaries and infrastructure through the acquisitions of Glendower Capital and DIF Capital Partners; and Franklin Templeton has built out an alternatives platform through Lexington Partners and Benefit Street Partners. The logic driving this activity is well-rehearsed: scale enhances distribution, operational resilience, and the institutional permanence that long-duration capital demands.

This piece argues that the industry is accepting that logic too readily, and that its loudest advocates are those with the most to gain. The empirical case for consolidation remains thin. Evidence that larger platforms generate superior returns relative to focused specialists is mixed at best, and their record on retaining the investment talent responsible for those returns is weaker still. As the universe of independent managers narrows, the implications for LPs, in terms of alignment, choice, and net performance, warrant considerably more scrutiny than they are currently receiving.