Who uses continuation funds? What Form ADV shows by sponsor size
September 2026 Form ADV filings, sorted by sponsor size: which PE sponsors report a continuation fund, and how much of their fund assets sit in one.
Contents 7 sections
Among sponsors with $10B+ in PE funds, 14.5% list a continuation-named fund on Form ADV. Below $100M, 0.6% do. The share of the book runs the other way. When a $10B+ sponsor lists one, the median holds 7.0% of its PE fund gross assets. When a $500M–$2B sponsor lists one, the median is 25.2%, and it reaches 39.4% at $100M–$500M.
We got there from the September 2026 filings. Each private fund on Schedule D has a name, a gross asset value and a count of beneficial owners. We took every PE fund and grouped them by the sponsor's total PE fund assets.
The exit backlog, and what the coverage leaves out
The exit backlog is this month's story. PitchBook figures reported by Benzinga (opens in a new tab) put 33% of US buyouts from 2017 still unsold. They estimate more than 10.8 years to clear the inventory at the annualized pace of exits recorded in the first quarter. The top results for "continuation fund private equity", from Ropes & Gray (opens in a new tab) and Schroders (opens in a new tab), explain the structure: the GP moves one or more companies from an older fund into a new vehicle, and LPs choose to roll or sell.
None of that coverage names sponsors. If you're mapping who has aging assets, or pitching a GP-led deal, the useful question is narrower. Which sponsors list a fund named as a continuation vehicle, and how much of their book is in it?
How we matched continuation funds
Form ADV has no field for "continuation vehicle". Schedule D lists each private fund by name, with its type and gross asset value. So the match is a name rule:
- The fund is filed as a private equity fund.
- Its name contains "Continuation", or carries a "CV" designation (as in "Stone Point CV, L.P.").
- Secondaries buyers' own funds are left out. That covers names like "Secondary Opportunities", "Continuation Opportunities" and "Continuation Solutions". Those funds buy into other GPs' vehicles; they don't hold the sponsor's own companies.
- Names where "CV" reads as something else, such as part of a firm's name, are dropped.
A narrower rule counts "Continuation" names only. The rise holds under it too: from 0.2% of sponsors under $100M to 7.2% at $10B+.
Each bar is the share of sponsors in that size band with at least one matching fund. Size is the sum of gross asset value across every PE fund the sponsor lists. Large sponsors also list far more fund entries, including parallels and feeders, so they have more names that can match. That accounts for part of the rise.
Across all sponsors, continuation-named funds hold 0.9% of PE fund gross assets in the filings. They are a small slice of the total and a large slice of some individual books.
Smaller books, bigger share
The median share falls as sponsor size rises. Here is the median continuation-fund share of PE fund gross assets, among sponsors in each band that report one.
Under $100M the median is 100.0%. At least half of the small advisers that report a continuation fund hold all of their PE fund gross assets in the matching fund.
The $500M–$2B band is where a continuation-named fund is common enough to list (4.2% of sponsors) and still large against the book. The table shows the sponsors in that band where the share runs highest. Share is the gross asset value in continuation-named funds over the sponsor's total PE fund gross assets. Each name links to the sponsor's record, which links the ADV.
| Sponsor | Share of PE fund assets | Continuation funds |
|---|---|---|
| Argonne Capital Group Atlanta, GA | 80.7% $1.26B of $1.56B | NFP and SRP Continuation Partners |
| Acorn Capital Management Oklahoma City, OK | 78.2% $496M of $634M | Acorn Sentry Aerospares CV |
| Cadent Energy Partners Rye Brook, NY | 67.4% $343M of $510M | CEP LLS CV |
| Liberty Hall Capital Partners Charleston, SC | 45.6% $228M of $501M | Liberty Hall Capital Partners Continuation Fund I |
| TRP Capital Advisors V Birmingham, MI | 38.8% $249M of $643M | TRP Continuation Fund (Genox) |
| White Deer Houston, TX | 36.4% $337M of $926M | WD Thunder CV, WD Spark CV |
| Cercano Management Bellevue, WA | 35.4% $258M of $729M | Cougar Continuation |
| ERA Partners San Francisco, CA | 34.8% $408M of $1.17B | ERA Blade Continuation Fund |
| Cimarron Healthcare Capital Salt Lake City, UT | 34.0% $178M of $525M | Cimarron Continuation Fund |
| LNC Partners Arlington, VA | 33.1% $271M of $820M | LNC Partners I Continuation Fund |
| Pike Street Capital Seattle, WA | 32.0% $233M of $727M | Impel CV |
Argonne reports eight continuation-named funds on its filing (opens in a new tab). One of them is NFP Continuation Partners Management Holdco, LLC, a holding company. A name match is a fund named as a continuation vehicle, and the structure behind it can vary.
For a secondaries team, this table is a list of mid-size sponsors that list a fund named as a continuation vehicle. For a sponsor's BD lead, it shows which peers carry a large share of their book in one.
Large sponsors: big vehicles, smaller share
At the top, the dollar amounts are large and the share of the book is small. Three examples from the filings:
- New Mountain Capital reports three continuation funds (DAT, SRC and CAS) holding $5.50B. That's 17.6% of its $31.2B in PE fund assets (ADV (opens in a new tab)).
- Insight Venture Partners reports eight continuation-named funds holding $5.24B, or 5.7% of $91.1B.
- TJC reports six, holding $2.56B, or 8.3% of $30.8B.
The $2B–$10B band has sponsors with shares closer to the smaller bands. Riverstone Investment Group reports five continuation funds (Amber, Echo, Grizzly, Iris and Nolan), holding 28.7% of its PE fund assets. J.F. Lehman has two, at 17.8%.
Vehicles named for one company
Several continuation funds are named for a portfolio company.
| Sponsor and fund | Gross asset value | Beneficial owners |
|---|---|---|
| ECP ECP Calpine Continuation Fund, LP | $5.00B | 59 |
| J.F. Lehman JFL-Puris Continuation Fund, L.P. | $522M | 33 |
| Graham Partners Graham Partners OptConnect Continuation Fund, L.P | $385M | 37 |
ECP's Calpine vehicle is the largest single continuation fund in the filings that matches the name rule. It holds 18.7% of ECP's PE fund assets on its own. Graham Partners also lists an OptConnect parallel fund at $149M.
Checking a sponsor's Schedule D yourself
You can rebuild any row above from the filing.
- Search the sponsor on adviserinfo.sec.gov (opens in a new tab) and open the full Form ADV.
- Go to Schedule D and find the private fund reporting section. Each fund gets its own entry.
- For each fund, note the name, the fund type and the current gross asset value.
- Flag names with "Continuation" or a "CV" designation. Skip funds the sponsor runs as a secondaries buyer.
- Add up gross asset value across all PE funds, then divide the flagged funds into it. That's the share of the book.
Two checks help. The sponsor's own portfolio page often lists the company a vehicle is named for, so you can see what moved. And Form D filings for the same vehicle show when it first sold interests.
Open the sponsor records
Each sponsor above has a record with every fund on its latest ADV, gross asset values and the filing link. Start with New Mountain Capital or Liberty Hall Capital Partners, then search for the sponsors on your own coverage list.