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Every year someone publishes a private markets outlook. It covers the macro environment, interest rate trajectories, and what the consensus expects. You have read those reports. You probably receive three a week.
This is not that.
This is 46 active allocators — family offices and fund of funds who are right now deciding which managers get their capital — telling you in their own words how they think, what they are doing with their portfolios, and what would make them commit faster and with more conviction. No intermediary translating their views. No PR-polished version of LP sentiment. Just what they actually said when we asked.
We ran the Commonplace LP Survey in January 2026, and if you are currently fundraising or building LP relationships, the findings are worth more than an 30-min of your time.
Here are four things that should be on your radar:
Cold outreach is almost irrelevant.
The LP network is by far the number one way new funds get discovered. Peer referrals dominate. Cold GP outreach barely registers. If you are spending your time on mass email campaigns and conference booths, you are spending it in the wrong place. Warm introductions from other LPs are worth more than any marketing budget.
Over 70% of LPs say who else is in your fund influences whether they commit.
Your existing LP base is either your strongest sales tool or a quiet liability. LPs are looking for anchor investors they recognise and respect. If your LP base tells a story of quality and alignment, new LPs will feel it. If it does not, they will notice that too.
Emerging managers are genuinely in favour — but the bar for trust is higher than ever.
LPs expect multiple reference calls, deep due diligence conversations, and real alignment through GP commitment. The opportunity is real. The shortcut is not.
LPs want you to stop leading with narrative and start showing how you create value.
This came through in almost every open-ended response. Exit planning, realistic underwriting assumptions, honest portfolio reporting. The GPs who are winning LP conviction right now are the ones who can clearly explain what happens after they invest, not just why they invested.
There is a lot more inside. How LPs are evaluating managers in this environment, what they are growing frustrated with, where they see the best return opportunities over the next three to five years, and the lessons they are carrying forward from the last cycle.
It is the most honest read on LP thinking you will find this year.
