A 48-page survey of 117 institutional investors, 84 boards, and what they expect from the next 12 months.
The story of 2026 is going to be about discipline, not growth. We surveyed 117 institutional investors and 84 audit-committee chairs over a six-week period in late 2025; the consensus, if there is one, is that the next twelve months reward the firms that have already done the boring work — controls, narrative, refinancing — and punish the ones still hoping for a better window.
Three quarters of the investors we spoke to expect deal volume to recover from 2025 troughs, but only into the lower half of historical ranges. Multiples remain compressed, especially in the mid-market. The capital is there — what's missing is conviction in the macro.
Boards are notably more conservative than the investors. We asked audit-committee chairs about their twelve-month priorities; the modal answer was simply 'avoid breakage' — protecting refinancing windows, getting CSRD off the ground, and pushing strategic moves into 2027.