GPs must ensure portfolio company boards can answer diligence questions cleanly and quickly at a moment's notice, writes PwC partner Gregory Bournet. Everyone in private equity is waiting for the same thing. Bain's 2026 Global Private Equity Report puts the number at roughly 32,000 unsold portfolio companies, worth an estimated $3.8 trillion, sitting in a backlog that's supposed to clear once rates ease, IPO windows reopen and corporate buyers come back in size.