Faced with high interest rates and stalled asset sales, the global private equity industry is adopting "structured equity," a new financing tool. Through customized agreements with private equity giants like Apollo Global Management and Bain Capital, firms can return cash to investors without selling assets. Currently, global buyout funds hold approximately $3.8 trillion in unsold assets, with the average holding period extended to seven years, causing the distribution to paid-in capital (DPI) to fall to its lowest level since 2000 last year. This tool typically takes the form of preferred stock or convertible securities, offering private capital providers a mid-to-high annualized rate of return, and has spread from the US and Europe to Asia. Critics argue that this is an "expensive temporary solution" that does not address the fundamental exit dilemma, and merely recycles capital among the same institutional investors while generating additional fees.