The highest of hopes bogged down in an unrelenting swamp. That sums up the year in capital markets, as expectations of a rebound in deal making failed to eventuate. Yes, there was plenty of dry powder among the country’s largest private equity firms. And yes, the initial public offering market looks a little healthier after Guzman y Gomez’s $3 billion ASX float. But it’s tough out there.

Investor appetite is about to be tested with a slew of multibillion-dollar asset sales and auctions. London’s Livingbridge is hoping for a $1 billion payday when it offloads Waste Services Group while TPG Capital is fine-tuning what could be a $3 billion sale of clinical research organisation Novotech. Kinetic, the largest bus operator in Australia, is also on the market as is Permira-owned medical imaging group I-MED. If investors step up and hit the bid on those valuations, there will be some real momentum in the market. If not, it will be the same painful conversation about dry powder next year.