PE-led deal activity finally felt the bite of higher interest rates that have been rising for nearly a year now. The fact that we are anywhere near 2021 levels this late into the year is no small feat. Last year, after all, was an aberration. The combined forces of fiscal and monetary stimulus unleashed a torrent of deal activity for most of 2020 and all of 2021, with certain areas of capital markets doubling—and sometimes tripling—from pre-COVID-19 levels. A fairer comparison would be to benchmark today’s activity to the three-year period heading into the COVID “bump.” Even on that basis, Q3 activity is flat to slightly up when compared with the “old” normal of 2017 to 2019, which at the time was considered a blistering pace for US PE dealmaking.