Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds Certification

The Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds Certification is a free advanced-level, 25-minute skill test from Science of Apps. It tests private equity secondaries and continuation funds — LP-led portfolio sales and pricing to NAV, GP-led continuation vehicles and single-asset deals, valuation and underwriting of secondary portfolios, structuring with deferred payments and preferred equity, conflicts, fairness and ILPA guidance, and the role of secondaries in liquidity and portfolio management — written to ILPA continuation fund guidance and templates, Kaplan and Schoar and SEC adviser rules for 2026 and 2027. Score 70% or more on its 25 questions to earn a verifiable Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds certificate (SOA-PESC). Every question is based on published standards and research — including ILPA guidance and templates (Institutional Limited Partners Association), Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows (Kaplan and Schoar, Journal of Finance (2005)), Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange markets (Bank for International Settlements) — and each answer is explained with its source.

Science of Apps offers a free Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds Certification, written for 2026 and 2027. It tests secondary market landscape, pricing and underwriting, gp-led continuation vehicles, structuring and financing and conflicts, governance and fairness with 25 original scenario questions in all, each naming its published source; you get an instant score and a verifiable certificate with a credential ID you can add to LinkedIn.

Read the five skill areas on this page, then take the 25-minute test online — no fee, course or sign-up. You see every answer explained when you finish. Score 70% or more and you get a Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds certificate straight away, on screen, as a PDF and by email, with a credential ID anyone can verify.

Yes. The questions are original scenarios written by Science of Apps, and each one is based on a public source you can read: ILPA guidance and templates (Institutional Limited Partners Association); Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows (Kaplan and Schoar, Journal of Finance (2005)); Triennial Central Bank Survey of foreign exchange markets (Bank for International Settlements); Daily Treasury Par Yield Curve Rates (U.S. Department of the Treasury); Interagency Guidance on Leveraged Lending (SR 13-3) (Federal Reserve Board); Investment Banking: Valuation, LBOs, M&A and IPOs (Joshua Rosenbaum and Joshua Pearl (Wiley)). The source is shown under each question and linked in the answer review. Science of Apps doesn't copy questions from other tests.

Five skill areas with five questions each, drawn from a bank of 10 per area so a retake brings new questions: Secondary Market Landscape (LP-led vs GP-led, Market participants and Drivers of supply); Pricing and Underwriting (Pricing relative to NAV, Bottom-up underwriting and Unfunded commitments); GP-Led Continuation Vehicles (Single- and multi-asset CVs, Rollover and sale options and Economics); Structuring and Financing (Deferred payments, Preferred equity and Leverage); Conflicts, Governance and Fairness (GP conflicts, LPAC role and ILPA guidance). Every question is an original scenario written to the 2026–2027 standard, with the published source named under it.

Secondaries associate or vice president, LP portfolio manager, GP investor relations or fund finance professional, Placement or advisory banker and Finance student targeting private markets. It suits students at leading universities, career switchers and experienced professionals who want quick, verifiable proof of Private Equity Secondaries & Continuation Funds knowledge in 2026 and 2027.

Ivy/LSE/IIM finance clubs recruit into IB, S&T, PE and hedge funds; these roles screen on technical depth our catalog does not yet test. Passing earns a founder-signed Science of Apps certificate with a credential ID and QR code that recruiters can verify.

A GP-led secondary where a manager moves one or more assets from an older fund into a new vehicle it also manages. Existing LPs can sell for cash or roll into the new vehicle, while new secondary investors provide the capital, giving the GP more time and capital to grow the assets.

To raise liquidity, rebalance allocations (for example, after the denominator effect), reduce the number of manager relationships, or exit strategies that no longer fit, usually at a negotiated price relative to the fund's net asset value.

Yes. The test is online, in English and free everywhere — people take it from India, the US, the UK, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Your certificate is dated with your own local date and can be verified from anywhere at scienceofapps.com/certification/verify/.

25 questions — 5 from each of 5 skill areas — with a 25-minute limit. You need 70% (18 of 25) to pass and 90% for distinction.

We rate it Advanced: assumes years in the role or deep specialist knowledge. It has 25 scenario questions — 5 from each of 5 skill areas — and a 25-minute limit. You need 70% (18 of 25) to pass and 90% for distinction.

Nothing. There is no fee to take a test, to receive the certificate, to have it emailed or to verify it, and no sign-up.

On our server, not in your browser. The answers never reach the page until you submit, so a certificate can only be earned by passing. Each certificate gets a unique credential ID stored by Science of Apps.

You see your score for each area and every question with the correct answer and why, with the published source behind it. You can retake after 30 minutes, and the retake draws questions you haven't seen yet.

No. Every certificate is dated, so it always shows when you passed. Retake a test any time for a newer date or a higher score.

Yes. After you pass, Add to LinkedIn opens the Licenses & certifications form with the certificate name, Science of Apps as the issuer, the issue date, your credential ID and the verification link filled in. You can also download it as a PDF or PNG, and it's emailed to you as a PDF.

Every certificate has a credential ID and a QR code. Scanning it, or entering the ID at scienceofapps.com/certification/verify/, shows the holder's name, the certification, the score and the issue date from our records.

No. They are Science of Apps' own assessments of applied skill. They aren't issued by a university or standards body, and they work best alongside a portfolio that shows the skills in real work.