Services businesses sit at the center of regulated industries. The companies that administer claims, manage clinical trials, and deliver compliance work to enterprises and governments occupy positions that are difficult to displace and increasingly difficult to scale without capital. We expect 2026 to be a defining year for the category.
Three structural forces are reshaping the landscape. First, regulatory complexity continues to grow across healthcare, financial services, and life sciences. Second, the founders who built these businesses over the past two decades are reaching natural transition points. Third, the institutional capital available to support that transition has rarely been more concentrated in the hands of investors who understand operating businesses.
For founders considering their next chapter, the question is no longer whether to take on a partner. It is which partner is built for the timeline and the type of business. Services companies do not compound on five-year cycles. Great ones are built over decades. The capital that backs them should be patient enough to recognize that.
This outlook frames how we think about the year ahead and what we are looking for in the businesses we partner with. It is not a forecast of multiples or a survey of deal flow. It is a statement about where we believe value is being created in services and why.
We will publish updated commentary as the year develops.