Analysis: The Iran war may worsen the most severe financing difficulties in the Asian private equity sector in the past decade.

Several industry insiders have said that the volatile situation in Iran, which has spread to global markets, has introduced new uncertainties that could weaken the enthusiasm for private equity investments in Asia that had just begun to rebound. Andrew Thompson, Managing Director of Asset Management and Private Equity at KPMG in the Asia-Pacific region, stated, "The situation we are seeing now is quite similar to the tariff situation at the beginning of last year - people are likely to pause, slow down, and choose to wait to avoid any sudden impact." Against the backdrop of increased uncertainty, investment funds in the Middle East may also temporarily slow down their pace of outbound investments and refrain from large-scale overseas investments in the short term. Thompson added, "Now is not the time for fundraising exploration. They now need to address more issues." According to a report released this week by Bain & Company, private equity firms focusing on the Asian market raised a record low of $58 billion in new funds last year, marking the fourth consecutive year of fund reduction.