Private Equity Spotlight

What’s next for value creation?

This episode is sponsored by Cinven and KPMG

Private equity firms are accustomed to navigating change, but operating partner teams in particular have had to become more agile in recent years.

As volatility becomes the new normal – from macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty to AI-related disruption – operating partners need to continuously reassess the value creation levers they are pulling to drive portfolio company growth, while also building resilience across their portfolios. This, in turn, is leading sponsors to reimagine their operating partner teams, in terms of structure and skill sets, as well as the way in which they engage with portfolio company management.

In this episode of Private Equity Spotlight, Louise Fordham, head of special projects for private equity at PEI group, sits down with Sam Williams, managing director of strategy and investment insights at international private equity firm Cinven, and Paul Pan, private equity leader for the deal advisory and strategy practice at KPMG, to discuss the future outlook for value creation strategies.

Measuring alpha in private markets: Why asset-level data matters

As private markets mature and competition intensifies, investors are searching for ways to better measure risk, performance and true manager outperformance.

Peer‑group comparisons and fund‑level IRRs may tell part of the story, but they are insufficient for knowing whether a GP is really achieving the alpha they might claim.

In this episode, Frédéric Blanc‑Brude, CEO of Scientific Infra & Private Assets (SIPA), discusses why asset‑level data and benchmarking are becoming essential tools for investors. He explains how SIPA’s indices were developed to address long‑standing private markets data gaps, why the firm recently joined PEI Group, and how asset‑level benchmarks can help LPs determine whether GPs are genuinely generating alpha, or simply telling a compelling story.

Learn more about Scientific Infra & Private Assets at sipametrics.com

PEI’s Data Dive: Reading the signals in secondaries sentiment

How is market sentiment shaping secondaries fundraising and deal activity?

In this episode of PEI’s Data Dive podcast, PEI’s senior content producer, Evie Rusman, is joined by Secondaries Investor editor Madeleine Farman and PEI head of special projects for private equity Louise Fordham to discuss the findings from PEI Group title Secondaries Investor’s Global Market Survey 2026. The survey, conducted in partnership with Goodwin, polled LPs, GPs, secondaries buyers and the intermediary community about market trends, transaction processes, deployment issues, regulation and more.

Download a data pack of the findings discussed in the podcast episode here.
PEI’s new Data Dive miniseries digs into our proprietary data, surveys and rankings, as well as recent market data sets, to understand what investors and fund managers are thinking, where capital is moving and how private markets are evolving.

Stay tuned for the next episode, which will provide insight into the 2026 edition of the PEI 300 – our annual ranking measuring the five-year fundraising totals of the world’s biggest private equity firms.

The new playbook for emerging managers

This episode is sponsored by Davis Polk and DC Advisory

Senior dealmakers at established firms increasingly seem to be choosing to strike out on their own, much like those firms’ original founders once did during the surge in mid-market firms during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

But in those years, institutional capital was flooding into a PE market that had proven its model repeatable, whereas the landscape for new firms today is markedly different. Not only do LPs want to see differentiated strategies with a compelling story and outsized returns, they want the young managers with whom they invest to have institutional-level operations and infrastructure.

In this episode, Buyouts senior editor Graham Bippart sits down with Michael Hong, a partner in the Investment Management practice at Davis Polk, and Donato de Donato, co-lead of DC Advisory’s GP Strategic Advisory practice, to discuss the state of the emerging manager market.

They point out that there is no shortage of challenges and complications lying in wait for would-be new managers, who often may be more restricted by their previous employers than they thought, make all-too-common mistakes in their pitch decks, and may even have notions about the most important first hires they should make. But in an ever-more-crowded market, those who can carve out a unique and compelling strategy are best poised to lure LP interest away from long-established managers.

This episode was produced alongside Buyouts’ annual Emerging Managers Report, done in association with Gen II.

PEI's Data Dive: How LPs' investment priorities are shifting

Over the past year, LP appetite for private equity has shifted noticeably. Private Equity International’s latest LP Perspectives Study revealed that 38 percent of respondents plan to invest more in private equity in 2026, which is down from 45 percent in 2025. Meanwhile, 12 percent plan to invest less, up from 7 percent the prior year.

What is driving this change? To unpack the data, PEI Group senior content producer Evie Rusman is joined by Hong Kong bureau chief Alex Lynn and senior research manager Evie Taylor to analyse the findings and discuss how these trends are shaping LP sentiment towards private equity.

This is the first episode in PEI’s new miniseries Data Dive, where we'll dig into PEI's proprietary data, surveys and rankings, as well as recent market data sets, to understand what investors and fund managers are thinking, where capital is moving and how the asset class is evolving.

Stay tuned for the next episode, which will provide insight into affiliate title Secondaries Investor’s inaugural global survey of the secondaries market.

Are PE's best days behind it? An LP and GP discuss

Have expectations for private equity changed? What’s the role of the asset class in the portfolio these days?

These are the questions that Dale Burgess, executive managing director for equities at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and David Nowak, president of private equity firm Brookfield, tackle in the second episode of PEI Group's new Commitment Issues podcast miniseries.

As the industry works through a backlog of unrealised assets, questions have arisen about performance, asset valuations and firms’ ability to acquire and sell companies in the time frame LPs have come to expect. For instance, average investment hold periods in private equity have now risen to around seven years, according to data from Bain & Company. Performance has to be even greater to achieve the same types of returns that private equity generated in past eras of cheaper debt.

As Burgess and Nowak explore, this can present a significant challenge for some firms, while for others – particularly where operational improvement is an established part of the toolkit – the game hasn’t really changed.

How an LP and a GP are approaching the slower exit environment

In the first episode of PEI Group’s new Commitment Issues podcast, Yangge Seaman of the Children’s Health System of Texas spoke with Hg Capital co-CEO Steven Batchelor about the slow pace of exits and the rise of alternative forms of liquidity that some GPs are using to boost distributions.

While exit activity and overall deal activity appear to be picking up this year, as a percentage of total net asset value, distributions are hovering around 11 percent. That’s a similar level of activity to that seen around the global financial crisis, and well below the 20 percent or more associated with more robust years.

Seaman talked about what she is looking for when it comes to exit activity among the GPs in her portfolio, and Batchelor gave insight into how Hg approaches exit activity, including its use of a realisation committee to ensure the firm maintains a focus on selling companies. The two also discussed best practices around secondary sales as LPs look for liquidity.

Seaman and Batchelor also talked about the evolving LP-GP relationship, and ways both sides can ensure strong partnership through cycles.

Private Funds CFO NY Forum: Sighs of relief

Private Funds CFO's 23rd annual New York Forum gathered together nearly 600 compliance, financial and operational experts in two days of discussions that covered everything from AI to new ways to think about carry.

In this episode of Private Equity Spotlight, PEI Group editor Graeme Kerr chats with Private Funds CFO’s Graham Bippart, Rob Kotecki and Bill Myers to get their top takeaways from one of the world’s biggest events for CFOs.

In this episode:

Graham Bippart is senior editor of Buyouts and Private Funds CFO

Rob Kotecki is deputy editor of Private Funds CFO

Bill Myers is Washington correspondent for Private Funds CFO

Graeme Kerr is an editor at PEI Group

How PE markets evolved in a volatile 2025

Join senior editor Adam Le, Hong Kong Bureau Chief Alex Lynn and America's correspondent Hannah Zhang in our end of year Private Equity Spotlight episode looking back at the biggest trends in the PE market in 2025.

From tariffs to trade wars, semi-liquid funds to the 401(k) opportunity and the resurgence of China, our editorial team dissects how LPs and GPs navigated various challenges and which developments are likely to spill over into 2026.

Behind PE’s democratisation drive and how GP-leds are thawing the liquidity freeze

In this episode, senior reporter Carmela Mendoza sits down with Sabina Comis, global managing partner, and Kenneth Young, a partner and co-chair of the corporate and securities practice at Dechert, to unpack key findings from the law firm's 2026 Global Private Equity Outlook.

The survey results, gathered from 100 senior-level executives at global PE firms with at least $2.5 billion in AUM, highlight creative deal structures and the importance of distributions for LPs. The results provide insight into where the asset class may be heading in the next 12 months.

The discussion centres on the gradual thawing of traditional exit channels. The pair outline the most promising opportunities for capital deployment in 2026.

The episode also explores why more GPs plan to make management stake divestitures in the next 24 months and the regional differences behind them; how capital pools are developing to keep companies private for longer; and why future product design of semi-liquid funds could address concerns around valuations.

The new era of GP-led secondaries

This episode is sponsored by Lexington Partners, LGT Capital Partners and Davis Polk and first appeared on Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast.

In 2024, GP-led deals hit a record of $71 billion in transaction volume, accounting for 44 percent of the total secondaries market volume of $160 billion, according to Evercore’s FY 2024 Secondary Market Review. This is significant and marks the increasing popularity of continuation vehicles as an exit route.

In this episode, Secondaries Investor senior editor Adam Le is joined by Lexington Partners’ Jeffrey Bloom, LGT Capital Partners’ Brooke Zhou and Davis Polk’s Leor Landa.

The trio explore how GP-led transactions have rapidly grown into a mainstream liquidity and portfolio-management tool, against a backdrop of constrained exit markets, rising LP demand for liquidity and increasing GP comfort with continuation vehicles.

They also examine market dynamics across deal sizes, noting the challenges of scaling mega single-asset vehicles and the significant untapped opportunity in the mid-market, where many GPs are still early in their GP-led journeys.

Brooke Zhou is a partner at LGT Capital Partners in Hong Kong, an investment committee member, and is responsible for origination, due diligence, execution and monitoring of Asian primary and secondary investments

Jeffrey Bloom is a partner on the secondaries team at Lexington Partners focused on the origination, evaluation and execution of continuation vehicle transactions

Leor Landa is a partner and head of investment management at Davis Polk

Adam Le is senior editor, EMEA, Private Equity Group, at PEI Group

The next frontier for real assets: Why multi-product managers have a head start to 2030

This episode is sponsored by Manulife Investment Management and first appeared on The PERE Podcast

As new industries evolve and accelerate, new opportunities are constantly arising for institutional investors in the private real assets space.

It isn’t always easy, however, for managers to grasp hold of these opportunities. As assets like data centers have become investable in recent years, managers have found that they need to devote time and effort to understand the dynamics around these unfamiliar assets. And the private markets industry has occasionally been guilty of obsessing over which labels to apply to emerging assets.

This is the first episode of our Private Markets 2030 podcast miniseries, part of PEI Group’s wider initiative exploring how private markets are evolving as we enter the decade’s second half. Across the series, we unpack how managers can adapt, attract capital and deliver performance in an increasingly complex market.

Joining us are three guests from Manulife Investment Management: Erin Patterson, global co-head of research and strategy; Maggie Coleman, the firm’s chief investment officer for real estate equity and co-head of global portfolio management; and John Anderson, global head of corporate finance and infrastructure. They discuss how multi-product managers have an advantage in expanding into new opportunity sets and argue that a multi-product approach offers obvious benefits around diversification, while allowing managers the flexibility to pivot into new opportunity sets.

Real estate credit finds its footing as markets recalibrate

This episode is sponsored by Bravo Capital and first appeared on The PERE Podcast

The lending landscape is shifting, and private credit is taking center stage. In this episode, Bravo Capital founder and CEO Aaron Krawitz discusses how his firm is navigating a market defined by bank pullbacks, rising regulation and persistent demand for rental housing.

Krawitz outlines where opportunities are emerging: ground-up multifamily construction, healthcare and skilled nursing facilities, and HUD-backed permanent financing. As traditional lenders retrench, these areas are seeing renewed activity from private lenders that can move quickly and tailor structures to complex projects.

He also reflects on how Bravo has adapted since launching at the height of the pandemic, emphasizing the importance of a disciplined approach and alignment with investors through shifting market conditions. That ethos, he says, has supported a focus on quality borrowers, measured construction exposure and long-term partnerships over loan volume metrics.

Across development financing, bridge loans and HUD takeouts, Bravo sees a broader trend in real estate credit: private lenders are leading the way with financings, even amid market uncertainty.

Dealmaking: Is a rebound around the corner?

This episode is sponsored by Francisco Partners and Platinum Equity

Dealmakers had high hopes for 2025, expecting the year to deliver a welcoming environment for M&A. Instead, uncertainty about tariffs and other issues stopped them in their tracks mid-year, and deal volume dropped. Exits have been especially challenging. But now as the year draws to a close, some clarity has returned to the market, and the number of completed transactions is rising once again. Many say the elusive rebound is just around the corner.

In this episode, PE Hub editor-in-chief Mary Kathleen Flynn speaks with Dipanjan 'DJ' Deb, co-founder and CEO of Francisco Partners, and Louis Samson, co-president of Platinum Equity, to find out how dealmakers are navigating the current conditions and what they're foreseeing for 2026.

Disruption Matters: Building sustainable growth engines

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can still deliver growth, despite the headwinds of a revolution in tech, geopolitics and global markets.

All season long, we’ve argued that PE firms need to pursue growth even in times of uncertainty and volatility. But in our final episode of the year, we’re clarifying that not all growth is created equal. The right kind of growth is cost-effective and sustainable. We explore the threats to sustainable growth, the need to shape growth strategies around exit routes, how buy-and-build strategies can go awry, and how to pause a growth strategy without stalling the company’s progress.

Guests include Jason McDannold, co-lead of the PE practice at AlixPartners; Halvor Horten, partner at Bain Capital; Jennifer Fox Bensimon, a managing director on the co-investment team of Partners Capital Investment Group; Emanuela Cisini, a partner and head of Middle East & Asia at Investindustrial; and Burak Kiral, a partner and managing director with AlixPartners.

Disruption Matters: Launch codes for 2026

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can still deliver growth, despite the headwinds of a revolution in tech, geopolitics and global markets.

In our fifth episode this season, we focus on best practices in planning for 2026 that allow portcos to hit the ground running in pursuit of growth. This means building the plan around customer pain points and preferences, with leaders freeing up resources both in terms of finances and human capital to win more business in the new year. In many ways, this is when to apply the principles around human capital, tech and innovation that we’ve been discussing all season long.

Guests include Jason McDannold, Americas co-leader of private equity at AlixPartners; Bob Brown, founding partner of Motive Partners; Hoyoung Pak, chief AI officer at AlixPartners; Gunnar Overstrom, a partner with Corsair Capital; and Saurabh Singh, a partner with AlixPartners.

Europe’s real estate reset: Capital flows and credit bring cautious optimism

This episode is sponsored by Cain International and Arrow Global and first appeared on The PERE Podcast

After several years defined by rising rates and pricing uncertainty, Europe’s property market may be at an inflection point. Jay Patel, managing director at Arrow Global, and Arvi Luoma, who heads Cain International’s European investment committee, share perspectives on how capital is rebalancing toward the continent in this special episode.

Patel notes that allocators from the US, Middle East and beyond are looking to Europe in ways they weren’t just a year ago, opening the door for both credit and equity strategies. Luoma, meanwhile, emphasizes that valuations appear to have bottomed and that green shoots are starting to show as financing conditions stabilize.

The two also highlight where opportunities are clearest: Germany’s distressed construction projects, Southern Europe’s structural tourism boom, student housing, and continued undersupply in residential and hospitality. Data centers and logistics remain attractive, while ESG regulation – once seen as a hurdle – is increasingly embedded in business plans, shaping how new assets are built and old ones are repositioned.

Taken together, their outlook is one of cautious optimism. Core capital is beginning to return, early movers are testing distressed opportunities, and Europe’s mix of stability, rule of law and long-term demand drivers are drawing greater global interest.

Disruption Matters: The innovation factor

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can still deliver growth, despite the headwinds of a revolution in tech, geopolitics and global markets.

In our fourth episode this season, we focus on how best to drive innovation at portfolio companies, and how to ensure such efforts deliver on their promise. That means finding the Goldilocks level of structure that measures and substantiates the process, without smothering good ideas with bureaucracy.

Guests include Lara Nemerov, a partner with Alix Partners; Jason McDannold, Americas co-leader of private equity at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, chief AI officer at AlixPartners; John Griffin, a partner with the Sterling Group; and Ben Hanessian, a principal of Baird Capital’s portfolio operations.

Why industrials are back on PE’s radar in the age of AI

This episode is sponsored by Brookfield

In recent years, industrials and manufacturing companies have attracted relatively modest levels of interest from private equity managers.

However, a reappraisal may now be overdue. In the US and other developed markets, trade tariffs and the need for more resilient supply chains are driving a resurgence in homegrown industrials. And given the advent of new technologies – including artificial intelligence – the opportunities around reimagining processes and finding valuable efficiencies could be huge.

In this episode, Anuj Ranjan, CEO of Brookfield’s private equity group, and David Bonasia, a managing partner and head of operations for the firm’s Americas group, explain why industrials could offer excellent openings for PE investors. After all, companies in this space tend to avoid the drastic swings in valuations that have been problematic for investors in other sectors, they say. And with AI on hand to boost value creation efforts, there’s plenty of upside to capture.

Inside secondaries' expansion into private wealth

This episode is sponsored by Lexington Partners, Proskauer and StepStone Group and first appeared on Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast

The secondaries market is benefitting from private markets' push into the private wealth space, with managers either launching secondaries-focused vehicles or secondaries making up a meaningful component of many evergreen funds.

Evergreen funds raised $16 billion in the first half of 2025 alone, 60 percent of which is dedicated to secondaries capital, according to estimates from Campbell Lutyens included in its H1 Secondary Market Overview Report.

In this episode, Secondaries Investor editor Madeleine Farman is joined by Lexington Partners' Taylor Robinson and StepStone Group's Brian Borton, both of whose organisations run evergreen vehicles deploying into the secondaries market. Proskauer’s head of its registered fund group John Mahon also joins the conversation.

In the wide-ranging conversation, Mahon, Borton and Robinson discuss appropriate ways to structure these vehicles, where to invest evergreen capital, regulatory updates, the long-term trajectory for these vehicles, and how they may impact the secondaries market.

Thinking of skipping a vintage? Listen to this first

At a time when distributions from private equity funds are slowing and GPs are holding on to assets for longer instead of selling them and returning cash to investors, many LPs may be wondering whether to hold off on making fresh commitments to PE funds.

While this might be tempting, it's just about the worst thing an investor can do, says Tim Yates, president and chief executive of Commonfund Outsourced CIO, which offers investment advice and manages capital for non-profit perpetual pools of assets, such as colleges, university endowments, foundations and other charitable organisations. The firm over the summer published a white paper, Mind the Gap: The Strategic Risk of Skipping a Vintage in Private Equity, which explores the downsides of making inconsistent commitments to PE funds.

"We continue to believe there's return generation potential from private markets and that those over time will outperform public markets," Yates says. "You need great managers to be able to do that, [but] it's really hard and can be expensive to time vintage your cycles."

In this episode, Yates discusses the three core principles that private markets investors should keep at the front of their mind when faced with a challenging investment environment; why the secondaries market isn't necessarily a panacea for vintage diversification; the risks of skipping a vintage; and whether manager selection is more important than consistent annual commitments.

Opportunities amid the dislocation: Investing in Germany’s property market

This episode is sponsored by Arrow Global and first appeared on The PERE Podcast

Germany’s property market is facing the highest insolvency rate in Europe. Years of cheap credit and rising prices encouraged aggressive development, but when interest rates jumped, buyers paused, sales collapsed and projects ran out of cash. The result: a wave of bankruptcies across the sector.

However, in this episode, CEO of Arrow Global Germany Bernhard Hansen explains that there’s opportunity within this dislocation. Stalled projects and smaller developments are waiting for investors with the expertise and capital to finish them. With housing demand far outpacing supply, especially in cities like Munich, he believes there is still strong long-term potential.

That potential of course comes with challenges: stricter sustainability rules, tougher financing conditions, and wary buyers mean projects take longer and require deeper due diligence. Yet Hansen is optimistic. International investors and alternative lenders are stepping in, and he says the correction is less of an ending, and more of a recalibration of Germany’s real estate market.

Should semi-liquids charge 2 and 20?

No trend has taken the private equity industry by storm quite like that of semi-liquid and evergreen funds. Data from consultancy Bfinance shows that at least $30 billion has been raised via private equity semi-liquid funds since 2020 – a figure that represents just 10 percent of the overall semi-liquids universe.

In this episode, Ajay Pathak, a partner and co-chair of Goodwin’s UK business, joins PEI senior editor Adam Le to discuss how management fees and carried interest are calculated; whether the typical 2-and-20 model prevalent in traditional drawdown funds make sense to apply to semi-liquid funds; whether charging carried interest on net asset value on both a realised and unrealised basis really make sense; and more.

Disruption Matters: Winning the digital race

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can deliver “weatherproof growth”, despite the headwinds of a tech revolution, geopolitics and volatile global markets.

In our third episode this season, we focus on how best to decide where, when and how to use AI tools to deliver growth, no matter the weather. These are groundbreaking technologies, but like any other tool, they’re only as good as the people using them. Even today, the buck still stops at the human leadership of the portfolio company and the private equity firm.

Guests include Jeremy Lehman, a director at Alix Partners; Jason McDannold, Americas co-leader of private equity at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, global co-leader, AI and data, at AlixPartners; Sanjay Ravi, managing director at Partners Group; Lou D’Ambrosio, the co-lead of Goldman Sach’s global portfolio operations and value accelerator; Cory Eaves, partner and head of portfolio operations at BayPine; and Jay Park, the co-founder and managing partner of Prysm Capital.

For further reading on this show’s topics:

• Practical AI For Private Equity Operating Partners | AlixPartners

Bain's David Gross on how to invest in periods of heightened volatility

Tariff turmoil, trade wars and real conflict in the Middle East – these are just some of the challenges private equity participants have had to navigate so far this year.

Speaking to senior editor Adam Le, David Gross, co-managing partner at Bain Capital, said volatility and uncertainty is nothing new for investors.

“I’d be the first to agree that it’s a very disorienting time period,” Gross said. He points out, however, that volatility and uncertainty have characterised almost the past two decades. “Since the global financial crisis, we’ve seen heightened volatility in the investing world. If you just look at the VIX [volatility index] and other metrics, and the market windows that are open in the public market, you’ve seen heightened volatility."

Gross, who has been with the firm for 25 years and is also managing partner of Asia, discusses what effective investors need in uncertain environments, the attraction of defence investing in Europe, the exit environment, and why the firm has no current plans to launch a secondaries investment business.

Unlocking potential in Dutch residential: Global capital is key

This episode is sponsored by Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and first appeared on The PERE Podcast

The Dutch residential market has remained resilient despite economic turbulence and rising interest rates and is now emerging as a prime destination for international investors.

In this episode, Paul van Stiphout of Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and Jorrit Arissen of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management unpack the forces driving the market’s strength – from a deep-rooted rental culture and robust occupancy levels to increasing demand for senior and student housing.

With the Netherlands facing a housing shortfall, Van Stiphout and Arissen discuss how foreign capital will be essential to bridge the gap. They also explore how demographic trends and public funding cuts are creating opportunities in niche sectors, such as senior living, which saw investment jump to €724 million in 2024.

The opportunity surrounding uncertainty

This episode is sponsored by Pomona Capital and Proskauer and first appeared on Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast

While the Trump administration's tariff announcements and the subsequent unfurling of uncertainty globally does create some headaches, it also creates a tailwind for the LP-led secondaries market.

"What the market has trouble adjusting to is uncertainty. And what happens in times of uncertainty, like the times we're dealing in now, is that [M&A and IPO] transactions tend to pull away," Michael Granoff, founder and chief executive of Pomona Capital, said in this episode.

"That uncertainty does tend to push more sellers into the secondary market... And so, in a funny way, it's not that we're uncorrelated to the world – we are – but on the other side of things, all of those things that keep us up at night that we're talking about actually create more opportunity for a buyer in the secondaries market."

While market participants continued to put their heads down and get deals done that were far along when the tariff announcements occurred, secondaries professionals are still working to digest second- and third-order impacts, Galen Lewis, a partner in Proskauer's private funds group, explained. "Normally, distress of some sort is something that creates additional volume in the secondaries market."

In this far-reaching discussion, Granoff and Lewis discuss a variety of issues affecting the LP-led market and the drivers of underlying deal volume, including the regulatory developments that may spur or hinder LP-led portfolio sales in the coming year, the rise of '40 Act capital, as well as new entrants.

Disruption Matters: Cultivating growth-first leadership

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can deliver “weatherproof growth”, despite the headwinds of a tech revolution, geopolitics and volatile global markets.

In this second episode, we focus on how best to assess, manage and, where necessary, recruit leaders capable of delivering growth in the face of such macroeconomic uncertainty. We learn about the very special “PhDs” that are fit for the moment, how technology can help with such a task, and how analog issues still matter most when it comes to leadership.

Guests include Ted Bililies, global co-leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners; Jason McDannold, Americas co-leader of private equity at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, global co-leader, AI and data at AlixPartners; Allison Walker, head of talent for FTV Capital; Tyler Wolfram, managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners; Ditte Marstrand Wulf, head of leadership and culture at Triton; Andrew Weinberg, founder, CEO and co-chair of Brightstar Capital Partners; and Erik Brooks, founder and managing partner of Ethos Capital.

For further reading on this show’s topics:

• Transformative Leadership: What it is and why it matters
• The Golden Age Of AI Experimentation For CEOs | AlixPartners (part one of two)
• AI Alone Won’t See Companies Succeed: Leadership Will | AlixPartners (part two of two)

Clips

• Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone, Warner Bros.
• Patton, Franklin J Schaffner, 20th Century Fox
• Stand and Deliver, Ramón Menéndez, Warner Bros.

CMBS sees swift rebound after market turmoil

Having navigated headwinds from interest rate hikes and secular shifts in office usage and online shopping in recent years, the US commercial mortgage-backed securities market was seemingly embracing a full resurgence. In 2024, its origination hit a record $104.05 billion, a 165 percent increase from the previous year.  

While that momentum continued into the first quarter of 2025, it stumbled when the overall capital markets were taken on a volatile ride after the Trump administration’s announcement in April about massive changes in tariffs. As a result, April was a much quieter month for CMBS. Deals got pulled or paused, and there were fewer loans priced.  

Borrowers, issuers and bond buyers told PERE Credit that although the activities were slowed down by the unprecedented market volatility, the market stabilized swiftly, with spreads gradually grinding back and new originations returning going into May. 

Often viewed as a barometer of the broader commercial real estate market, the sector’s swift recovery after market turmoil signals the resilience of the industry in an uncertain macroeconomic environment. In this episode, Zachary Cohn, managing director at Brookfield Asset Management, and James Stouse, senior director of CMBS credit research at Barings, shared their observations on the CMBS resurgence. 

For more insights on this, see PERE Credit‘s June/July cover story.

Disruption Matters: Orchestrating change in disruptive times

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can still deliver “weatherproof growth”, despite the headwinds of a revolution in tech, geopolitics and global markets.

In this first episode, we set the stage by acknowledging the unique pressures of the moment, as well as what they have in common with covid and how they differ. Our experts then detail the best practices around 100-day response plans, which are all-hands-on-deck sprints to respond to pressures on a company’s fortunes. Sustained discipline and collaborating with customers prove to be the keys to unlocking the latent potential of a disruption. As one panelist puts it, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Guests include Jason McDannold, co-lead of the private equity practice at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, partner, managing director and global co-lead of the AI & Data Practice Group at AlixPartners; Mary Rachide, a managing director with ICV Partners; Bert Notini, a managing director at New Mountain Capital and co-lead of the firm’s operating partner group; and John Sander, a principal in portfolio solutions at Lightyear Capital.

PEI 300: What's behind private equity's fundraising plateau?

The growth of private equity fundraising is slowing down.

The 300 firms that feature on the 2025 edition of the PEI 300 – Private Equity International’s annual ranking of the industry’s biggest fundraisers – collectively raised $3.29 trillion over the preceding five years. While still a record high for the industry, the level of year-on-year growth is a departure from prior iterations.

On average, the PEI 300 grows by 11 percent in total capital raising each year. The 0.3 percent rise in this year’s ranking may therefore be a cause for concern, market sources tell us.

In this episode of Spotlight, PEI editor Helen de Beer, senior editor Adam Le and Americas correspondent Hannah Zhang delve into the reasons behind this fundraising flatline and examine some of the bright spots that exist beyond the headline numbers.

Click here to see this year's PEI 300 ranking and full coverage.

Click here to learn more about the Nexus conference in Orlando, February 22-25, 2026

As the US real estate debt market resets, private credit steps in

This episode is sponsored by LaSalle Debt Investors and Kayne Anderson 

In the wake of rising rates and falling transaction volumes, US real estate debt markets are undergoing a significant transformation. Traditional lenders – especially regional banks – have stepped back, opening space for private credit providers to play a larger role.

As a looming wave of loan maturities approaches, participants are preparing for both stress and opportunity. They're deploying capital selectively, often in the form of rescue financing, while building platforms that can flex across cycles. What emerges isn’t a market in freefall or overdrive, but a reset where discipline and structure matter more than ever.

Joining us in this episode is David Selznick, chief investment officer of Kayne Anderson’s real estate group, and Craig Oram, president and fund manager at LaSalle Debt Investors. They share how their firms are adapting by focusing on refinancings, leaning into necessity-based assets like multifamily and industrial, and underwriting with more scrutiny than ever before.

Infrastructure’s digital age

This episode is sponsored by Edmond de Rothschild and Palistar Capital and first appeared on The Infrastructure Investor Podcast 

Digital infrastructure is developing rapidly, turbocharged first by the coronavirus pandemic and now by advances in artificial intelligence, which have turned data centres into arguably the hottest investment in infrastructure at the moment. The sector also includes fibre and towers, both of which are also attracting strong investor interest.

This episode focuses on the growth of – and opportunities within – digital infrastructure’s three key subsectors. Jean-Francis Dusch, global head of infrastructure and structured finance at EdR, and Josh Oboler, investment partner at Palistar Capital, explore how AI is transforming the data centre landscape, where to find the best opportunities in fibre, and why towers continue to make such a good investment.

Redefining finance leadership

Finance leadership is changing rapidly. So how are leaders adapting to these changes and redefining traditional finance roles to enhance operational efficiency? In this episode, we conclude our three-part New Faces of Finance miniseries by talking to three 2025 honorees about the changes they are making at their respective firms.

Joining us are Dorothy Walter, partner and CFO at Alpine Investors; Pete Keenan, vice president of finance at 645 Ventures; and Jessica Shearer, partner at Proskauer Rose, who discuss what it takes to modernize traditional finance functions and how finance professionals are adapting to the demands of emerging technologies that are transforming the industry.

The role of finance leaders is evolving in several ways and will continue to do so in the years to come. Keenan explores the evolution of finance roles, from a backward-looking reporting function into a more proactive data-driven decision-making engine, and stresses the role of keeping up with emerging technologies. Walter highlights her philosophy on building a team with a diverse skill set and hiring from non-traditional backgrounds. Shearer emphasizes the importance of actions individual leaders are taking at their respective firms. Additionally, all speakers discuss how to overcome challenges in scaling operations and how they’re future-proofing financial processes.

How tariff turbulence is hitting private markets

The 'U-word' has well and truly returned to private markets. Uncertainty has dominated conversations the first half of April, as the back-and-forth tariff announcements have deepened the pause in dealmaking.

For the private equity industry, the trade war adds unwelcome distractions to an industry already grappling with challenges including lower distributions, higher interest rates, a difficult fundraising environment, consolidation and fundamental changes.

In this episode, editors from PEI Group's various titles covering the M&A market, deals, secondaries, LP insight and GPs analyze the private equity industry's response to the tariffs and volatility; where the challenges and opportunities lie; and what market participants are keeping their eyes on.

In this episode:

• Adam Le, senior editor, EMEA, private equity, PEI
• Mary Kathleen Flynn, editor-in-chief, PE Hub
• Graham Bippart, senior editor, Buyouts and Private Funds CFO
• Madeleine Farman, editor, Secondaries Investor

See also: Tariff turmoil: What do PE professionals think?
Read in:

• Buyouts
• PE Hub
• Private Equity International
• Secondaries Investor

Sweden’s bank-dominated real estate market ‘needs’ alternative lenders

In 2022, the Swedish real estate sector was one of several European property markets expected to see significant distress following the rapid rise in borrowing costs. Speculation grew over the fate of companies with huge refinancing needs, and it appeared to be a moment for non-bank lenders to provide an alternative source of debt.

Sweden’s policy rate is now among the lowest in Europe, while a material recovery in real estate transactions is also underway. Bank lenders remain the dominant source of debt capital by far. However, there is a growing community of non-bank lenders that believe the domination of banks in the sector is set to recede, regardless of recovery.

In this podcast, Lucy Scott explores the opportunities ahead for alternative lenders in one of the most bank-dominated real estate lending markets in Europe.

Interviewed in this episode:

• Lesley Lanefelt, head of Nordic investments at Velo Capital and partner at Urban Partners
• Frans Heijbel, managing director, Heimstaden
• Pontus Sundin, chief executive of Niam Credit
• Maarit Nordmark, chief executive of Kinnerton Capital, head of credit Sweden & Finland

How emerging technologies are transforming litigation finance

Innovation and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and legal tech, are transforming the finance industry faster than ever before. In this episode, we present the second instalment of our three-part New Faces of Finance miniseries.

Joining us is Louisa Klouda, founder and CEO of Fenchurch Legal, who shares her perspective on how innovation is driving transformation in the litigation finance industry, and what unique opportunities are arising as a result.

Technology is not only streamlining processes, improving risk assessment and predicting outcomes in new ways, but it is also crucial for finance firms to balance innovation with stability. Klouda explains how firms managing complex portfolios can leverage technology to enhance security as well as how innovation can pave the way for new tools and capabilities. Additionally, she discusses key trends that finance professionals should focus on, particularly when it comes to building AI models for smarter, data-driven investment decisions.

How specialised can the secondaries market get?

This episode is sponsored by Evercore, Davis Polk and Dawson Partners and first appeared on Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast

The secondaries market sits at a crossroads. Never before have LPs been presented with such an array of different liquidity offerings to back. There are specialised secondaries funds focusing on healthcare, on impact investing, on real assets in Asia or on acquiring direct minority equity stakes in companies in India. There are funds focusing on writing large cheques to multi-billion-dollar single-asset continuation funds; and there are funds focusing on making late primary commitments to buyout funds that are still in their fundraising mode. In short, if you’re an LP looking to back a secondaries fund, you’re spoiled for choice.

In this special episode, we sit down with Nigel Dawn, global head of Evercore's Private Capital Advisory group; Leor Landa, head of the investment management practice at Davis Polk; and Yann Robard, managing partner at Dawson Partners. We discuss why the performance of continuation funds is key to the further growth and branching out of this part of the market, and why the market is undergoing the fastest pace of innovation it has ever seen.

Mentorship and the future of finance talent

Mentorship is a critical driver of success in finance, especially in Africa, where diverse talent pipelines and investment challenges shape the industry. In this episode, we begin our three-part New Faces of Finance miniseries.

Joining us is Doris Odit Achenga, founder of Odit Frontier Partners, who shares her insights on fostering emerging talent, navigating investment landscapes and the role of mentorship in building a sustainable private equity ecosystem.

 

Inside the semi-liquid fund boom

No development has impacted the private equity market over the past year like the rise of semi-liquid and evergreen funds. Semi-liquid/evergreen funds are similar to mutual funds in that investors can buy in one day, sell another day and access a seeded portfolio from the moment capital is invested.

GPs seemed to launch some kind of semi-liquid fund on a weekly basis last year, with ICG, Pantheon, Coller Capital and Ardian being examples of firms that launched or said they would launch such vehicles last year.

In this episode, we sit down with Richard Hope, co-head of investments at global asset manager Hamilton Lane, to discuss semi-liquid funds and why they're one of the hottest topics in private markets.

The energy transition’s next era

This episode is sponsored by Nuveen and Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners

The state of renewable energy is a series of contradictions. On the one hand, solar panels are cheaper, but they may not stay that way with the threat of tariffs from the incoming Trump Administration. Distributed energy and behind-the-meter power generation are promising, but there are persistent structural obstacles, especially around microgrids. Meanwhile, AI projects require more and more energy while so many grids are already struggling to meet current needs.  

So what does this mean for energy investors today? Will the Trump Administration curb progress on renewables in favour of fossil fuels, or will energy demands boost every alternative available? Where are the opportunities worth pursuing and what technologies are living up to their promise?

In this episode, we’ll discuss these questions and more with Don Dimitrievich, the senior managing director and portfolio manager for energy infrastructure credit at Nuveen, and David Scaysbrook, a co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners.

This episode first appeared on The Infrastructure Investor Podcast on 9 January 2025

Secrets to raising a first-time fund in 2025

What does it take for new teams – first-time GPs and spin-out GPs – to succeed in today’s environment? That's a question we put to Warren Hibbert, founder and managing partner at Asante Capital, a placement agent and advisory firm.

Asante has raised capital for firms including GRO Capital, eevolve, Maguar Capital Partners and Artá Capital. The firm was the second-most active placement agent for private equity emerging manager capital-raising in Private Equity International's Placement Agent Ranking 2024, having helped sponsors raise $2.21 billion in capital over the relevant period.

In this episode, Hibbert discusses how to set a target for a first-time fund, why track record and team cohesion are critical, and why emerging managers in today's environment need to hold a one-and-done final close.

NZ Super on why a total portfolio approach can both help and hinder PE portfolios

California Public Employees' Retirement System, the US's largest public pension, last year introduced to its board a radically different method of investing: the total portfolio approach.

TPA has already been adopted by multiple sovereign investors around the world, including Australia's Future Fund and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

In this episode, PEI Group Hong Kong bureau chief Alex Lynn sits down with Doug Bell, investment strategy director at NZ Super, to discuss the benefits and disadvantages of TPAs when constructing a private equity portfolio capable of delivering long-term results.

NZ Super has NZ$80.4 billion ($46 billion; €44 billion) in assets under management and is now led by two new co-CIOs. It began the process of rebuilding its buyouts portfolio from scratch this year.

The ‘good boring’ approach to private credit

This episode is sponsored by Golub Capital

Private credit has enjoyed massive growth for more than a decade, but there are real questions about what happens when conditions are less favourable. How can lenders that launched during the good times continue to succeed when the market changes?

David Golub of Golub Capital knows from experience. Golub Capital was founded 30 years ago and has performed well in all kinds of market conditions. One of Golub Capital’s strengths involves a ’good boring’ approach, which aims to minimise the excitement of market swings and focus on delivering consistently for its stakeholders.

In this episode, David discusses Golub Capital's founding and its evolution through the financial crisis and the pandemic. We'll look at how cultivating close, long-term relationships with sponsors can improve every stage of the deal process, and why remaining focused on companies in resilient sectors where the firm has deep expertise has helped Golub Capital remain consistent, even in times of ‘bad interesting’.

Is America’s energy transition safe in Trump’s hands?

This episode is sponsored by Nuveen and Igneo Infrastructure Partners

With the American electorate recently handing the White House back to Donald Trump, it seems like an opportune time to unpack what it could all mean for the infrastructure asset class – in particular, the US commitment to renewables and the energy transition. Trump is, after all, the man who previously removed the world’s largest economy from the Paris Climate Accord and has since sounded less than supportive of President Biden’s initiatives to stimulate the economy and create jobs through a series of infra-led federal legislation.

So, is the Inflation Reduction Act in danger of being repealed? Does global capital have cause to be jittery? Or is the case for renewables infrastructure now simply too strong for even a sceptical Trump-led administration to deny.

Helping us to address these questions and concerns are John Ma, a partner and co-head of Igneo Infrastructure Partners’ North America team, and Don Dimitrievich, the senior managing director and portfolio manager for energy infrastructure credit at Nuveen.

Peeling back the onion on secondaries in 2024 – literally

Please enjoy this crossover episode from Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast, which recently moved to its own channel. To continue getting new episodes, subscribe at secondariesinvestor.com/podcast or search for Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts wherever you like to listen.

It's common to peel back the onion on key events and trends seen across financial markets. As the secondaries market heads for what is predicted to be a record-setting year for volume, we decided to practice the phrase quite literally.

Madeleine Farman, senior reporter and host of the Second Thoughts, and senior editor Adam Le are joined by Carlo Pirzio-Biroli, head of CVC Secondary Partners, and Ted Cardos, co-head of Kirkland & Ellis's European liquidity solutions team, with the group letting a basket of onions decide the talking points.

Pirzio-Biroli and Cardos discuss key wins, disappointments and developments over the course of 2024 and what the next 12 months could bring for the secondaries market.

A golden era for opportunistic lending

This episode is sponsored by Sculptor Capital Management

The last 24 months have been a period of uncertainty and volatility in credit markets, with rising inflation and higher interest rates putting borrower capital structures under pressure and making it difficult for lenders to price risk.

These headwinds have proven challenging for mainstream lenders. But for opportunistic credit investors, it has provided a window to unlock attractive risk-adjusted returns in situations that are obscured by complexity.

In this episode, we sit down with Jimmy Levin, the chief investment officer of Sculptor Capital, a global alternative investment manager with more than $20 billion of credit assets under management across corporate, asset based and real estate credit. He discusses the opportunistic credit investment opportunity set, reflects on how it’s reshaping old thinking about the credit default cycle, and explores other strategies – notably, asset based finance – that benefit opportunistic lenders who can operate free of constraints.

Trump, fees on co-investments and how semi-liquids are affecting GP behaviour

Private markets are becoming more accessible to non-institutional investors, as the rise in semi-liquid vehicles this year demonstrates. At the same time, the industry is facing certain potential headwinds or tailwinds, depending on which region you're based in, as law firm Dechert's 2025 Global Private Equity Outlook survey has found.

In this episode, partners Sabina Comis and Chris Field sit down with Private Equity International senior editor Adam Le to discuss the results of the law firm's latest survey, which examines these issues and more.

In this podcast, Comis and Field also discuss:

• The expected impact of the US election on PE portfolios
• Regulatory scrutiny
• Fee structuring, including on co-investments
• Secondaries transaction activity and deal volume

For more private markets insights, check out privateequityinternational.com

Aware Super's checklist for emerging managers

Australian superannuation fund Aware Super opened its first overseas office in London last year and has wasted little time deploying capital. The fund, which manages A$170 billion ($110 billion; €105 billion) on behalf of predominantly nurses and teachers in Australia, quickly set on a plan to invest £5 billion ($6.3 billion; €6 billion) in the UK. It is almost halfway through that plan and most recently invested $370 million to acquire a stake in renewable energy group Octopus Energy.

In this episode, senior editor Adam Le sits down with Damien Webb, deputy chief investment officer and head of international, to discuss what the superfund looks for when it backs emerging managers (spoiler alert: it's more than just track record).

Webb also discusses how the fund invests in both funds and directs, its outlook on UK investments and how it plans to deploy more capital into secondaries.

Disruption Matters: Embarking on the next era of value creation

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In the sixth and final episode of this season, we delve into how best to begin creating value using AI and other cutting-edge technology. It's no surprise that picking the right priorities is key, but so is staffing and senior management buy-in. With so many service providers, systems and apps in the market making so many promises, it's hard to imagine where to begin the process. While every GP and every portfolio company has unique needs and challenges, we offer the first principles that should guide listeners, no matter the size or strategy of the firm.

Guests include Matt Katz, global head of data science at Blackstone; Chris Satchell, managing director of tech and digital at Clayton, Dubilier and Rice; Raj Kushwaha, co-head of value creation and chief digital officer at Warburg Pincus; Misha Logvinov, a managing director at MGX; Tim Kiely, operating principal at BayPine; Hoyoung Pak, global co-lead of the AI & Data Practice Group at AlixPartners; and Jason McDannold, Americas co-lead, Private Equity, at AlixPartners.

Behind the numbers: Elevating transparency in private market valuations and benchmarking

This episode is sponsored by Scientific Infra and Private Assets

Abhishek Gupta and Tim Whittaker from Scientific Infra and Private Assets discuss the growing demand within private markets for accurate and robust data. They explore solutions that can address these needs, ultimately providing the private markets with comprehensive, high-quality valuations and reliable benchmarks.

Top tips from female founders in alternatives

Female founders continue to be underrepresented and underfunded. Women only accounted for 13.2 percent of all startups in 2023, according to data from software company Carta. This was down from 15.1 percent in 2022. So, it is safe to say progress has been slow.

However, in private markets, there are positive signs that the number of women founding firms and raising capital is increasing, albeit it from a low base. According to Venture Capital Journal, funds in which at least half of the founding partners are women accounted for just over 3 percent of global venture fundraising in 2023, up from 1.9 percent the previous year.

We decided to delve into this further, looking at what can be done to ensure the number of female founders continues to increase.

Earlier this month, PEI Group revealed its annual Women of Influence in Private Markets list 2024, which this year celebrates 42 inspiring women working in alternatives. For the second episode in this two-part miniseries, we spoke to some of the women featured in the list – each of whom have built businesses from the ground up – to discuss the keys to their success.

This episode includes Courtney Russell McCrea, co-founder and managing partner at Recast Capital; Eva Shang, CEO and co-founder at Legalist; and Rayenne Chen, partner at EQT and a founding member of the EQT Exeter team. They offer advice to women looking to start their own business.

Catch the first episode of our Women of Influence podcast miniseries, which is all about mentoring, here.

Disruption Matters: Optimizing talent for this new era

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this fifth episode, we discuss tech's role in recruiting, onboarding and developing talent. Along the way, we address how best to recruit Gen Z, the limits of AI in this particular arena and how tech is changing the nature of talent management as a discipline. With tech tackling so many of the rudimentary tasks around talent management, human capital professionals will be freed up to focus on the more complicated tasks around motivation, evaluation and leadership. In short, tech may make some duties simpler, but the key challenges of managing people will still need to be addressed by humans.

Guests include Christopher P Trendler, managing director and head of portfolio talent at Madison Dearborn Partners; Nicole Jones, talent director, portfolio support group at Advent International; John Sander, principal, portfolio solutions at Lightyear Capital; and Ted Bililies, the global leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners.

Clips
- Her. Spike Jonze, Annapurna Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures
- M3GAN. Akela Cooper, Universal Pictures

Can mentoring help close the private markets gender gap?

Women are still underrepresented across private markets, while reaching senior positions remains particularly challenging. In light of this, we decided to take a deep dive into how mentoring can serve as a tool for success and empower women working in the industry.

Last week, PEI Group revealed its annual Women of Influence in Private Markets list 2024, which this year celebrates 42 inspiring women working in alternatives. For the first episode in this two-part miniseries, we spoke to some of the women featured in the list to discuss the keys to mentoring success.

In this episode, Patricia Miller Zollar, a managing director at Neuberger Berman; Rosalind Smith-Maxwell, a director at Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners; and Jackie Rantanen, head of investor solutions at Hamilton Lane, discuss their personal mentoring experiences and explore how well the industry is doing in supporting up and coming talent.

Read more about this year’s Women of Influence in Private Markets list here.

Disruption Matters: How tech supercharges today's roll-ups

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast series is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this fourth episode, we discuss tech's role in improving the speed, rigour and ease of roll-up strategies, where a private equity firm acquires a platform company in a fragmented industry and uses M&A to consolidate targets to create a market leader. It's a popular strategy for the simple reason: it's worked so well in recent years. We'll look at what today's cutting-edge tools, including AI, can do for roll-up strategies, and where human expertise and experience still can't be replaced.

Guests include David Poole, partner, executive chair of digital at Stanley Capital; Max Julian Kaye, principal at Battery Ventures; Saurabh Singh, partner at AlixPartners; Jason McDannold, partner and managing director at AlixPartners; and Hoyoung Pak, partner and managing director at AlixPartners.

Clips
-"People," Barbara Streisand. Funny Girl. Capitol
-"Human Touch," Bruce Springsteen. Human Touch. Columbia

Identifying the office of the future

Despite being plagued by headwinds including high interest rates, shrinking demand and declining property values since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, the office sector is starting to see some green shoots as usage and leasing rise. 

In this episode, Jim Costello, executive director and co-head of the real-assets team at MSCI, and Ran Eliasaf, founder and managing partner of New York-based real estate private equity firm Northwind, see growing signs of stabilization – and believe this trend is starting to extend outside of class A assets in gateway markets.  

Additionally, there is a rise in creative thinking about how to use older properties, including converting vintage office stock to other uses, and even acquiring office properties on a low basis and doing a complete renovation. 

For more insights on this, please see PERE Credit's October/November cover story here. 

Private credit lenders seize the moment in Europe

This episode is sponsored by Arrow Global

Private debt has enjoyed sustained success in recent years, with private credit firms stepping in to fill the void left by the retreat of banks from their traditional lending role. The outlook for the asset class in Europe remains strong, as firms continue to find compelling opportunities, even in sectors that face market headwinds.

A persistent supply-demand imbalance in the housing market across most European countries means that residential real estate is a particularly attractive sector for lenders. Changing work patterns are also giving a long-term boost to parts of the hospitality real estate sector, with southern European markets able to take advantage of a boom in demand.

In this episode, Zach Lewy, founder and CEO of Arrow Global, discusses how asset-backed lending enables private credit firms to minimise risk while capitalising on emerging opportunities. Success, he notes, hinges on maintaining strategic discipline in a landscape ripe with potential.

SI Decade: is Asia-Pacific the most promising secondaries market?

This episode is sponsored by Kirkland & Ellis, LGT Capital Partners and TPG NewQuest

The Asia-Pacific secondaries market is one of the most fascinating corners of the global secondaries landscape. This region typically never accounts for more than single-digit figures in terms of global deal volume share – yet some of the most innovative transactions have come out of the APAC market over the years.

In this episode of our Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, we sit down with Brooke Zhou, partner at LGT Capital Partners; Michelle Cheh, partner at Kirkland & Ellis; and Darren Massara, managing partner at TPG NewQuest, to discuss what types of deals have happened over the last 10 years in the Asia-Pacific region.

We explore Renminbi-to-US dollar restructurings and why these have taken a back seat in 2024; why valuations are a more complex issue when it comes to Asia-Pacific GPs than their global counterparts; the different drivers of dealflow in the various markets in APAC and what types of opportunities these are bringing about; and why the regulations affecting GP-led secondaries deals in the US and western Europe have had little impact on APAC secondaries transactions.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

Disruption Matters: Managing the middle

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this third episode, we will discuss life after the 100-day plan and that tricky middle period where effective portfolio management is paramount, especially if the company isn’t growing in line with expectations. Here we’ll investigate how tech and AI can be used to diagnose problems, even propose solutions, and how much the human element still matters in managing a crisis. For example, no workforce wants management relying on AI bots to sell them on a new strategic direction.

Guests include Arvindh Kumar, partner and co-head of technology, private equity at EQT; Antony Edwards, managing director at PSG Equity; Neil Kalvelage, co-lead of portfolio operations team efforts at Centerbridge; and Dan Boland, partner and managing director at AlixPartners.

Clips:
- Magnum Force. John Milius, Robert Daily, Warner Bros, The Malpaso Company.
- RoboCop. Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner, Arne Schmidt, Orion Pictures.

What stabilizing base rates mean for commercial real estate

This episode is sponsored by Arrow Global

Commercial real estate was heavily affected by rising interest rates throughout 2023. Many sectors of the asset class struggled against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop, with transaction activity dropping significantly and debt providers becoming more conservative in their lending. But over the course of 2024, base rates have begun to stabilize. So, how are investors adapting?

In this episode of Spotlight, Zachary Vaughan, chief investment officer and global head of real estate at Arrow Global, speaks to Jonathan Brasse, editor-in-chief, real estate at PEI Group, about the impact of stabilizing interest rates and the best strategies for investors navigating the current market landscape. He discusses the significance of localized expertise in Europe, the emergence of situational distress in smaller transactions, and the shift towards operational real estate investments. He also discusses evolving portfolios and the increasing appeal of sectors like hospitality and retail.

How to get into the SI 50: Inside our latest ranking of the biggest secondaries fundraisers

The top 50 secondaries investors globally raised $473.8 billion in the five years to the end of 2023, according to this year’s SI 50. That’s a 9 percent increase on last year’s ranking, when $434.5 billion was recorded across a longer counting period of five-and-a-half years.

Ardian took the top spot, raising $49.6 billion across the period, followed closely by Blackstone Strategic Partners, which raked in $49.5 billion. Lexington Partners, which holds the record for the largest secondaries fund ever raised, accumulated $36.7 billion in commitments, coming in at number three.

Specialisation is driving much of this underlying growth – whether that be through asset class expansion, strategies focused down on LP-leds or GP-led deals, or picking a focus on a market segment with less secondary competition. Evergreen vehicles are also spurring on new avenues for secondaries capital raising.

In this episode of Second Thoughts, senior reporter Madeleine Farman and Americas correspondent Hannah Zhang discuss how far these factors have driven growth in the SI 50 and how much room there is to grow further.

See the full SI 50 ranking here

Carry tax increase in the UK: Anarchy for PE or a new reality?

Profit sharing is at the heart of the private equity incentive model: deliver LPs a certain return and keep 20 percent of the profits.

But private equity managers in the UK look set to pay a higher tax on any profit they take from such investments. The Labour government, which was voted into power in July, has said it aims to raise the tax on carried interest so it’s closer to the income tax rate of 45 percent. Doing so would raise £565 million pounds ($746 million; €671 million) in annual revenue, according to the government’s estimates.

In this episode, we sit down with Michael Graham, a partner at law firm DLA Piper who specialises in tax for private funds. Graham has been part of the consultation group providing the UK's tax authority with details on what a potential hike in carried interest tax could mean.

Graham discusses the lessons the UK can learn from other jurisdictions, why it's unlikely professionals in the UK private equity industry will leave en masse, why a flat tax rate is an attractive idea, and what 'capital at risk' may really mean.

Navigating the Asian private credit opportunity

This episode is sponsored by Bain Capital

Asia’s credit markets are the largest in the world, yet they remain heavily bank dominated. While large blue-chip businesses are well serviced, there is a material undersupply of custom, fit-for-purpose capital for SMEs, mid-market businesses and financial sponsors. This is creating a significant opportunity for direct lenders.

Asia’s credit markets are also complex and nuanced, which places a premium on managers with the right networks, insights and experience.

In this episode of the Private Debt Investor Podcast, Bain Capital’s Andrew Schantz, discusses how to navigate Asian private credit and what the future holds for an asset class having a “golden moment” across the globe.

Infrastructure debt: 'A critical part of the capital solution'

This episode is sponsored by Barings and Nuveen

Technological innovation is making everything more digital-dependent, and a looming climate catastrophe is ramping up demands for cleaner energy. But neither digitisation nor the energy transition can be accomplished without building new infrastructure or repurposing existing assets, which requires some serious capital investment. Yet, with public purses at near empty levels and regulation constraining bank lending over the last decade, there is a sizable financing gap. This presents an opportunity for private markets.

In this episode, Pieter Welman, head of global infrastructure at Barings, and Don Dimitrievich, a senior managing director at Nuveen and portfolio manager for the firm’s energy infrastructure credit business, tell Infrastructure Investor’s Helen Lewer that infra debt is a core part of the capital solution. They explain why the strategy’s resilience in difficult economic conditions is piquing the interests of more and more LPs that are eager to finance the world’s future infrastructure needs.

Infrastructure firms look to accelerate the energy transition in Europe

This episode is sponsored by Infravia Capital Partners and Vauban Infrastructure Partners

Few would deny that investment in the energy transition is an urgent priority across Europe. Without investment in renewable energy, along with a host of associated infrastructure, there is little hope of meeting net-zero targets. Moreover, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated, Europe’s energy security depends on the continent harnessing its own renewable resources.

Yet escalating costs, supply chain disruption and rising interest rates have complicated the investment picture. Fund managers must navigate a complex web of considerations to ensure they select assets that truly possess infrastructure characteristics.

In this episode, Christoph Bruguier, chief investment officer at Vauban Infrastructure Partners, and Aymar de Tracy, partner in the infrastructure investment team at Infravia Capital Partners, tell Infrastructure Investor’s Ben Payton that the outlook remains strong. Despite complications in the market, they agree that infrastructure funds can access enormous opportunities with a disciplined strategy around energy transition investing.

NAV finance steps into the mainstream

This episode is sponsored by 17Capital

NAV finance used to be a niche, little known corner of debt capital markets, but over the past 10 years it has evolved into a firmly established part of the private markets ecosystem.

As NAV finance has moved into the mainstream, private capital managers have taken up NAV facilities in ever greater numbers to address a wide range of financing requirements.

So, how are managers using NAV finance across their platforms, and how has the market navigated a cycle of rising inflation and interest rates? What do LPs think of NAV finance and what is the outlook for the industry in the next 12 to 24 months?

In this episode, we sit down with 17Capital partner Dane Graham to discuss what has driven the NAV finance industry’s rapid growth over the last 10 years, unpack how managers are using NAV facilities at the portfolio company and fund level, and look ahead to what comes next following a period of higher interest rates and tighter liquidity.

SI Decade: Europe’s appeal and the evolution of specialisation

This episode is sponsored by UBS Asset Management and Proskauer Rose

The global secondaries market has grown from roughly $47 billion in 2014 to more than $100 billion today. In Europe, fragmentation has led to some significant regional differences. However, it is also clear that many of the trends and dynamics found in the European market are the same as in North America – indeed, some of these developments occurred there first.

In the penultimate episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing podcast miniseries, we sit down with Jochen Mende, an executive director responsible for secondaries transactions at UBS Asset Management, and Bruno Bertrand-Delfau, partner and co-head of secondaries transactions and liquidity solutions at Proskauer Rose.

The pair discuss how the European secondaries market has developed over the past decade, how it compares with the North American market and what’s in store for GP-led and LP-led transactions globally.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

Disruption Matters: The future of due diligence

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this second episode, we explore how technology is changing the nature of due diligence. How much can AI improve investment decisions? Is it only a matter of data management, or can these new technologies help identify potential operational efficiencies, EBITDA growth and new markets? And is this reserved for tech-forward industries like SaaS or can they be applied to sectors like manufacturing and insurance? We answer these questions with what’s possible today, complete with the limitations and the need for expert supervision. Listeners should know that this episode ends with a plot twist that might keep GPs up at night.

Guests include Anders Thulin, partner and head of digital & technology practice at Triton Partners; Andrew Tarver, founding partner of Motive Partners; Hoyoung Pak, a partner and managing director with AlixPartners; Jason McDannold, partner and managing director with AlixPartners; Lewis Bantin, partner at ECI; Sofia Gertsberg, managing director of quantitative investment science at HarbourVest; and Jeremy Lehman, director at Alix Partners.

Clips:
- Alien. Dan O'Bannon. 20th Century-Fox, Brandywine Productions.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens. JJ Abrams. Lucasfilm Ltd, Bad Robot, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

PEI's Future 40 on finding a niche in private equity

The private equity industry is increasingly recognising the value of encouraging PE professionals to pursue more niche investing and operational strategies at their institutions.

In this episode of Spotlight, three of Private Equity International's 40 under 40: Future Leaders of Private Equity 2024 listees – Lamar Cardinez, a principal at Blue Owl Capital; Ngoc Can, portfolio director, co-investments at Texas Municipal Retirement System; and Richard Pearce, a partner at ECI Partners – discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with leveraging their expertise to find new streams of revenue. They also share their career advice for the next generation of PE professionals.

Disruption Matters: The digital promise

This series is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for season three: AI and the future of value creation. This year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this first episode, The digital promise: Threats and opportunities, we set the stage by getting a reality check around what today’s AI solutions can and can’t do. While AI-related tech has enormous potential, firms need to select their use cases wisely, tailored to the unique needs of a given business. And like any other technology, it’s only as good as its implementation, which is still governed by the timeless demands of any change management. But managers don’t have the luxury of waiting for others to develop best practices; at the current pace of innovation, there’s too great a risk of being left behind.

Guests in this episode include Jason McDannold and Hoyoung Pak, partners and managing directors at AlixPartners; David Bonasia, head of value creation for the Americas for Brookfield Asset Management’s PE business; Blythe Masters, a founding partner of Motive Partners; Ashish Chandarana, head of portfolio optimisation and partner at Veritas Capital; Luke Chan, a partner with HighVista Strategies; Michael Zeller, head, AI strategy and solutions at Temasek; and Catherine Brien, a partner and managing director at AlixPartners.

Clips:
-2001: A Space Odyssey. Stanley Kubrick Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C Clarke.
-The Terminator. Hemdale, Pacific Western Productions, Euro Film Funding Cinema '84, Orion Pictures, James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd.
-Her. Warner Bros Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, Spike Jonze.

Inside the latest PEI 300 of private equity's heaviest hitters

The PEI 300 ranking of private equity's biggest fundraisers is becoming an even more exclusive club: this year, a manager needed to have raised at least $2.3 billion over the preceding five-year period, up from $2.08 billion in the previous ranking.

The 300 firms in this year's ranking raised a whopping $3.28 trillion between them – a 6 percent year-on-year increase. In the top 10 alone, these firms raised $741 billion, up more than $10 billion from the previous ranking.

In this episode of Spotlight, PEI senior editor Adam Le, Americas correspondent Hannah Zhang and Hong Kong bureau chief Alex Lynn delve into the figures of this year's PEI 300 to look at a few trends including: GP stakes firms' positions in the ranking; the movement of Asia-Pacific-headquartered firms in the list; and why GP-LP communication is more important than ever when it comes to fundraising.

SI Decade: How the secondaries industry can empower women

The private equity industry has been pushing for more gender equality among GPs, LPs and intermediaries over the past decade, and the trend is now taking hold in the secondaries market, where diversity issues have historically received less attention.

In recent years, women across secondaries have been advocating for empowerment movements and forming support groups, including the Women in Secondaries network launched by Coller Capital and Akin Gump in 2020, as well as the WINS initiative backed in 2021 by five industry professionals representing the buyside, advisory, lending and legal sectors.

For those who have made it to senior roles, the priority is to retain, promote and elevate other women. In this eighth episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, Americas correspondent Hannah Zhang sits down with two women pioneers to discuss how the secondaries industry can promote gender equality. They are Francesca Paveri, senior managing director at investment bank Evercore, and Tori Buffery, senior director of secondaries at Nicola Wealth and senior adviser at Morningside Capital.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

SI Decade: Why specialised secondaries are poised for growth

Specialised secondaries strategies are becoming an increasingly important part of the market. According to data complied by Secondaries Investor, 85 percent of the capital raised by secondaries funds in final closes last year was for private equity strategies; the remainder of this was for non-PE strategies, and the year before that more than one-third of capital raised was for non-PE strategies.

There is also increasing specialisation within private equity secondaries, as firms including Lexington Partners, Strategic Partners, AlpInvest Partners and LGT Capital Partners carve out teams to focus on single-asset continuation funds.

In episode seven of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, senior editor Adam Le sits down with Jeremy Coller, chief investment officer and managing partner at Coller Capital, and Yann Robard, managing partner at Dawson Partners, to discuss how far the asset class has come in terms of specialisation and cross-asset-class appeal.

• For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.
• Listen: "Everything you wanted to know about preferred equity"

Clean energy: More capital will come in 2024

This episode is sponsored by Nuveen Infrastructure and NextEnergy Capital

Clean energy is key to turning the world’s net-zero ambitions into a reality, an argument few would contest. So the IEA’s 2023 World Energy Investment report, which showed that clean energy investing rose at a faster rate than investment in fossil fuels in the period between 2021 and 2023, offers plenty of cause for optimism that the world is on the right path to tackling the climate crisis.

But it’s not moving fast enough, according to the United Nations, which has warned that government commitments are falling well short of what’s required to deliver net zero by 2050. It says that billions in capital must be ploughed into the energy transition to end reliance on polluting fuels.

In this episode of Spotlight, Infrastructure Investor’s Helen Lewer speaks to Joost Bergsma, global head of clean energy at Nuveen Infrastructure, and Michael Bonte-Friedheim, founder and group CEO of NextEnergy Capital, to gauge whether institutional capital’s loyalty to the agenda has wavered amid a difficult fundraising backdrop. Their conclusion? With many LPs under-allocated to infrastructure and the fundamentals for clean energy investing still sound, they expect more capital to flow into the space in 2024 and beyond. But managers with track records will have an edge in the competition for capital.

SI Decade: The birth of programmatic secondaries sales

Post-global financial crisis, many institutional investors were forced sellers, offloading private markets exposure at hefty discounts. More than a decade on, these same institutional investors have become repeat sellers on the secondaries market, using the tool as a way to proactively manage their portfolios. How has LP sentiment toward the secondaries market changed, and what is the outlook for this mainstay of the sub-sector?

In this sixth episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, Secondaries Investor senior reporter Madeleine Farman sits down with Jeffrey Keay, managing director at HarbourVest Partners, and Adrian Millan, partner at PJT Park Hill. Keay and Millan take a deep dive into LP portfolio management and look at how institutional investors are using secondaries as a tool to manage private markets exposure.

We look into the evolution of programmatic secondaries sales and explore the drivers and dynamics behind why some institutional investors are repeat sellers of private markets exposure.

• For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here
• Read: "Liquidity the primary use case for GPs looking to enter secondaries processes – PJT"
• Read: "Evercore: distressed sellers 1% of 2013 market volume"

The sustainable boom in private credit

This episode is sponsored by the Credit Investments Group (CIG)

Private credit has expanded exponentially in recent years, with most citing the contraction in syndicated markets as the cause of that growth. But now those markets are opening back up, and questions linger about how that will affect private credit.

So what do continued inflation and elevated interest rates mean for today's managers? What does private credit look like now, and how will it adapt to a new macroeconomic landscape? Will private credit shrink in the wake of access to public credit, or will the two co-exist to provide a full suite of financing options to their clients?

In this episode, we'll look back at the causes of private credit's recent boom, how much of that boom might continue, and what the future of lending is likely to be in the coming years. We’re joined by Kevin Lawi, private credit portfolio manager and head of origination at the Credit Investments Group in UBS Asset Management (formerly known as Credit Suisse Asset Management), along with his colleague on the public side, David Mechlin, a US portfolio manager and member of the CIG Corporate Credit Committee.

SI Decade: Inside the biggest regulation changes to secondaries

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s recently passed rules relating to the GP-led secondaries market have put these deals squarely on LPs’ radars.

“[These rules] raise the visibility of GP-led transactions to LPs and they signal how important and risky those transactions might be,” Igor Rozenblit – managing partner and founder of governance, risk and regulatory services provider Iron Road Partners and the former private equity expert in the Division of Enforcement of the SEC – told Secondaries Investor.

“I wouldn't be surprised for LPs who have already focused on these transactions to focus on them even more… While all the other risks the LPs have always worried about are present, now you've got an additional regulatory risk as an LP that you have to worry about, and LPs are typically very concerned with their exposure to headline risk."

In this fifth episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing podcast miniseries, we sit down with Rozenblit and Isabel Dische, chair of Ropes & Gray’s alternative asset opportunities group, to discuss the secondaries aspects of the private fund advisers rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and Form PF rules.

The pair discuss the evolution of the SEC’s focus on this small sub-asset class within the sprawling private markets landscape, what the regulator is looking out for in these transactions, and how GPs, buyers and advisers can navigate best practice as well as reputational risk that could come with these deals.

• For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.
• Read: "SEC votes through rules on GP-led secondaries reporting timeline"
• Read: "Rubber stamp speeds up market standardisation"
• Read: "The VSS case and the path toward best practice"
• Read: "Iron Road Partners: Analyst note on American Infrastructure Funds SEC charge" 

SI Decade: Will the North American market’s dominance continue?

This episode is sponsored by Ares Management, Dawson Partners and Proskauer Rose

The North American secondaries market remains the deepest and most active area for secondaries trading of all the global regions. Around $114 billion-worth of alternatives exposure changed hands last year and North America accounted for around two-thirds of global secondaries trading.

In this fourth episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, we sit down with Eddie Keith, a partner and head of infrastructure secondaries in the Ares Secondaries Group; Chris Robinson, partner in the private funds group at Proskauer Rose and co-head of the firm’s secondary transactions and liquidity solutions practice; and Yann Robard, founder and managing partner at Dawson Partners, which recently rebranded from Whitehorse Liquidity Partners.

The trio discuss how the North American secondaries market got where it is today, and what’s next for this crucial region.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

SI Decade: From frustration to longer holds with single-asset continuation vehicles

Single-asset continuation funds have surged in popularity in recent years. While the technology isn't new, it took persistence from secondaries market advisers to show both private equity managers and buyers that vehicles associated with the moniker 'zombie funds' could be used to keep hold of star-performing assets.

Last year, single-asset continuation fund vehicles took out the largest share of GP-led transactions, accounting for around 39 percent of the $48 billion of volume seen in this part of the market, according to a year-end report from Lazard.

There was "some reluctance" from secondaries buyers when conversations around single-asset continuation fund transactions began, Harold Hope, global head of secondaries at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told Secondaries Investor. "We traditionally bought portfolios. Sometimes they were concentrated portfolios, but they were always portfolios."

Today, these vehicles allow Goldman Sachs "to mitigate some of the broader risk that we face when we buy a diversified portfolio," Hope said, adding that the team is "excited about the opportunities" globally.

In this third episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing podcast miniseries to celebrate the 10 years since Secondaries Investor launched, we sit down with Hope and Holcombe Green, global head of Lazard’s private capital advisory business. They discuss how continuation fund technology was developed over time to facilitate single-asset continuation funds, and how large this pocket of the market could become as more capital is allocated to the area.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

SI Decade: Zombie funds to continuation vehicles

What's in a name? The process of moving an asset or assets from an existing private markets fund into a separate structure has been happening for some time now – some say as early as 2006 and possibly even prior to that.

The so-called 'continuation fund' market was worth around $40 billion last year, according to advisory estimates. Yet, this market was not always seen as a positive and constructive tool with which fund sponsors could deliver liquidity, via an option, while retaining their hold over prized assets.

In the second episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries to celebrate the 10 years since Secondaries Investor launched, we sit down with Nigel Dawn, head of private capital advisory at investment bank Evercore, and Verdun Perry, global head of Blackstone's Strategic Partners group, to discuss the evolution of the continuation fund market over the past decade and what's in store for how this tool will continue to be used.

• For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.
• See the PEI 300 here.
• Read "Single-asset CVs offer steadier returns than buyout funds – Evercore
• Read "How do continuation funds really perform?"
• Read "More LPs seek to back secondaries funds"

Delivering flexible capital during difficult times

This episode is sponsored by Blackstone

Private credit has seen significant growth over the past year, with some of the largest asset managers increasing their allocations to the sector. It comes as volatile market conditions and geopolitical tensions have plagued most industries, revealing private debt as a more secure source of capital. So, how are firms looking to take advantage of this uptick in activity? And what areas will they be focusing on going forward?

In this episode, we're joined by Blackstone’s Michael Zawadzki and Brad Marshall to explore some of the trends shaping private credit and analyse what the manager’s investment strategy looks like. The podcast comes after Blackstone integrated its corporate credit, asset-based finance, and insurance groups into a single new unit called Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI) in September.

PIMCO’s François Trausch on decarbonization, banks and ‘pretend and extend’

On this episode, François Trausch, CEO and CIO of PIMCO Prime Real Estate, reflects on the behavior of the central banks, refinancing and the demands of decarbonization. Recorded at the PERE Europe conference as part of his keynote address, he speaks with PEI Group’s Jonathan Brasse about the outlook for the market.

“I think learning to be a good investor is also learning to do nothing from time to time,” he said. “That doesn't mean [investors are] not busy… There's work to be done, and I think if the bid-ask spread is narrowing, which we're seeing, I think sales will come back and there's lots to be done in putting the same teams on the sales effort and understanding how to use the capital stack, not just you know, to do equity, but to look at more hybrid ways to invest.”

Read more of PERE's coverage here

SI Decade: From financial crisis to secondaries sales

A decade ago, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, anxiety around unknowns was still rippling through financial markets, including within secondaries. Similarly, there was a great deal of concern around the Volcker Rule that came into effect in 2014, which essentially prohibited banks from investing in private equity with their own funds.

In 2013, secondaries volume sat at around $28 billion. The following year, volume leapt to $42 billion. While regulation should not be overplayed, the Volcker Rule and Solvency II – a regulation affecting insurance companies and the percentage of risky assets they can hold on their balance sheets – played a big role in this increase.

In 2014, "There was suddenly... a lot more publicity being given to what people had been doing," Katherine Ashton, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, explained. "With the increased publicity, with the increased knowledge of the market, that fed on itself and led to outdoing some of the predictions [for the growth of the market] because the more people realised that there were willing buyers and sellers, the more it allowed the market to develop."

Welcome to the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, where we celebrate 10 years of Secondaries Investor with reflections on key trends that have shaped the market, as well as a glimpse into what likely lies ahead. In this first episode, we sit down with Ashton as well as Michael Granoff, chief executive and founder at Pomona Capital. Each give insight into how the Volcker Rule and other post-GFC legislative frameworks spurred secondaries sales.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

Where banks' multifamily exposure is causing the most 'acute risk'

In this episode, Brian Thies and Christopher Wolfe of Fitch Ratings speak with PERE Americas editor Miriam Hall about the outlook for multifamily real estate in the US and how banks may be exposed.

Banks’ multifamily lending has grown 32 percent since the end of 2019, per a Fitch report last month, to hit $613 billion at the end of 2023. That is a complicating factor for some regional banks, especially those with significant exposure to rent-controlled assets or areas facing oversupply. “The performance is still looking good, but that growth is probably masking what's underneath,” Wolfe said on the show.

Theis said it is an asset that has “flown under the radar” to a certain extent. “It's a class within CRE that has seen significant growth over the last four years – and as such, most of that was underwritten at extremely low interest rates,” he added. “So now, as a lot of that is coming up for refinance, it's doing so at significantly higher rates.”

PERE’s April cover examines outlook for multifamily, which you can read here.

So you want to launch a new fund strategy?

Specialisation in the private equity industry has become part and parcel of its growth, with almost half of the roughly $785 billion raised for private equity strategies last year focused on non-buyout strategies.

In this episode, senior editor Adam Le sits down with Richard Anthony, chief executive of investment bank Evercore’s private funds group, to hear his advice for GP clients wanting to launch so-called 'ancillary' strategies.

For more, check out privatequityinternational.com.

Where electric vehicles meet infrastructure investing

Across the globe, EVs are seeing an uptick in both usership and government support. They stand to deeply reshape power grids, so the infrastructure supporting them has become top of mind for forward-thinking infrastructure investors. In this episode, we sit down with Benjamin Bygott-Webb, a managing director at EQT, and Gregory Remec, head of North American infrastructure at Fitch Ratings, to explore the investment opportunities – both direct and indirect – and how those investments may impact the already precarious electric grid.

To learn more, check out these stories on infrastructureinvestor.com: 

• The key is in the ignition, but will EV charging in the US start up?
• The EV challenge
• The charge towards greener transport

The figures behind secondaries' second record year

In this episode of Second Thoughts, our bi-monthly take on the biggest trends and developments in secondaries, Secondaries Investor's Madeleine Farman, Adam Le and Hannah Zhang cut through the headline figures in 2023's advisory reports to break down geographic trends and key themes in the market.

Total deal volume sat somewhere in the region of $109 billion to $115 billion in 2023 with LP-led volume making up $56 billion to $66 billion.

Farman, Le and Zhang delve into topics including APAC secondaries market activity, structured liquidity offerings such as NAV loans, preferred equity and GP commit financing, and the popularity of multi-asset continuation funds as managers seek to find ways to generate DPI for LPs.

Navigating APAC's 'toughest-ever' fundraising environment

It's no secret that raising Asia-Pacific private equity funds has become extremely difficult, with regulatory uncertainty, geopolitical tensions and shifting risk appetites contributing to one of the region's toughest-ever fundraising environments.

According to Private Equity International data, funds in the region raised $49.2 billion last year, down substantially from $77.6 billion in 2022 and less than half the $122.9 billion raised in 2021. Only 187 funds held a final close in 2023 – roughly half the 365 closed in 2022 and less than a third of the 637 closed in 2021.

With LPs more selective than ever in the region, the onus is on GPs to stand out from the crowd. In this episode, PEI Group Hong Kong bureau chief Alex Lynn sits down with three of the region's most senior fundraisers – Monument Group partner Niklas Amundsson, Atlantic-Pacific Capital partner Vincent Ng and Asante Capital's head of Asia Ricardo Felix – to discuss how shifting LP appetites are reshaping these markets.

To read more about what to expect from APAC private equity in 2024, read our story in Private Equity International here.

The impact of geopolitics on real estate returns

For more, be sure to also check out PERE's February cover story "Private real estate’s collision course with geopolitics."

Geopolitical tensions topped the list of near-term downside risks for businesses in the latest global risk survey by economic forecasting firm Oxford Economics. It is also a risk of particular relevance for the private real estate industry, given how geopolitical conflict stands to have a detrimental effect on property returns on both a macro and micro level.

In this episode, PERE editor Evelyn Lee speaks with Abby Rosenbaum, associate director at Oxford Economics, about how geopolitical uncertainty overall contributes to a higher-for-longer interest rate environment, which is considered to be the most damaging risk scenario on real estate performance. At the same time, specific geopolitical conflicts – namely, the escalating war in the Middle East and the looming threat of a conflict in the Taiwan Strait – also have a direct negative impact on real estate returns, but that impact varies by market and sector in less-than-obvious ways.

How endowments and foundations can make the most of market volatility

Endowments and foundations are some of the most consistent investors in private equity, and they often have some the highest allocations to the asset class. But have the challenges private equity has faced over the last 12 months dented their appetite? What are some of these investors thinking when it comes to their private equity portfolios?

In this episode of Spotlight, senior editor Adam Le sits down with Jill Shaw, a managing director at global consultancy Cambridge Associates, to find out what advice she is giving her clients when it comes to private markets portfolio construction and which investment strategies are most attractive to them.

Apollo’s Akila Grewal on the firm's strategic evolution

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In this sixth and final episode, Akila Grewal, partner in client and product solutions at Apollo, discusses the progression of her firm’s private debt business, as well as her personal growth within the industry.

If you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here. There, you’ll continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit from some of the industry’s biggest names, as well as PDI’s team of reporters and analysts.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

ELFA's Sabrina Fox on the tussles that have shaped deal agreements

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In this fifth episode, European Leveraged Finance Association CEO Sabrina Fox reflects on the highs and lows of borrower/lender deal negotiations in the industry.

To get the entire six-part miniseries right now, and continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit afterwards, search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

Pemberton's Symon Drake-Brockman on the building of a pan-European GP

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In this fourth episode, cross-published here on Spotlight, Pemberton’s co-founder and managing partner Symon Drake-Brockman discusses how the industry has evolved and recounts the process of shaping Pemberton into the powerhouse it is today.

To get the rest of the six-part miniseries right now, and continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit afterwards, search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

Kartesia’s Julien Rigon on how LP pressure has shaped ESG

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In the third episode, cross-published here on Spotlight, Kartesia’s head of France Julien Rigon reflects on the past 10 years from an ESG perspective and looks at how the industry might evolve considering today’s sustainability agenda.

To get the rest of the six-part miniseries right now, and continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit afterwards, search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

LCM’s Paul Burdell on finding gaps in the private credit market

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In the second episode, cross-published here on Spotlight, LCM CEO Paul Burdell discusses the evolution of private debt and banking oversight over the past 10 years, the impact of regulations, as well as LCM’s unique position in the industry.

To get the rest of the six-part miniseries right now, and continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit afterwards, search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

Ares’ CEO Mike Arougheti on the huge potential for private debt’s future growth

Subscribe to the new Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here: https://www.privatedebtinvestor.com/podcast

PEI Group publication Private Debt Investor recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary, and now it's launching its own podcast! To kick it off, PDI is taking a six-part look back with its Decade of Private Debt podcast miniseries, speaking with some of the industry's leading figures about the challenges, triumphs and the evolving dynamics that have defined the world of private credit over the past 10 years.

In the first episode, cross-published here on Spotlight, Ares CEO Mike Arougheti looks back at a decade of strategic growth in private credit, emphasising the importance of enduring relationships and the misunderstood, yet resilient nature of the market.

To get the rest of the six-part miniseries right now, and continue getting market-leading insight into the world of private credit afterwards, search and subscribe to the Private Debt Investor Podcast wherever you like to listen, or click here.

And be sure to also check out our Decade of Private Debt special report at privatedebtinvestor.com.

Infrastructure capital remains all in on climate agenda, despite global headwinds

This episode is sponsored by Arcus Infrastructure Partners and Meridiam

That the world is on the path to climate catastrophe, and that urgent action is needed to reverse it, is widely agreed upon. Yet, a sudden weakening of resolve at the political level has been evident in 2023, with some European governments delaying or diluting their previous climate policy commitments amid challenges like the cost-of-living crisis and geopolitical tensions. In the United States, ESG has even become part of the ideological battle between Republicans and Democrats.

In this episode of Spotlight, Neil Krawitz, partner and head of ESG and asset management at Arcus Infrastructure Partners, and Matthieu Muzumdar, partner and deputy chief executive officer at Meridiam, tell Infrastructure Investor’s Helen Lewer that despite this challenging backdrop, infrastructure capital remains steadfast in its commitment to investing sustainably. They share their thoughts on where the opportunities are for the sector to play its part in creating a greener and more socially equitable future.

How AI is transforming finance and accounting

This episode is sponsored by Withum

Artificial intelligence has become far more than just a buzzword in the realm of finance and accounting. In this episode of Spotlight, we explore the latest advancements and challenges that AI brings to the sector, as well as how fund managers and service providers are leveraging it to push boundaries while staying mindful of the risks.

Joining us is Colleen Fay, a seasoned tax partner at Withum with over two decades of experience in accounting and a keen focus on the alternative investment industry. She shares her views on how AI is reshaping productivity, accuracy and strategic decision-making in finance, while also addressing critical concerns around regulatory compliance and cybersecurity risks.

Ardian’s Colas on the potential for secondaries growth in 2024

In this episode of Second Thoughts, our bi-monthly take on the biggest trends and developments in secondaries, Ardian's co-head of secondaries and primaries Vladimir Colas makes a bold prediction for the secondaries market: the first private equity fundraise to breach the $30 billion mark will be a secondaries vehicle.

LP portfolios being brought to market are only growing in size, and if they could, sellers would be offloading even larger portfolios. However, secondaries activity is still constrained by the amount of capital available to deploy into these transactions.

Colas sat down with senior reporter Madeleine Farman to discuss how large the secondaries market could become in the near future, as well as how many new entrants Ardian expects to break into the secondaries market in 2024 and beyond.

Tracking LP perspectives on private equity

The Private Equity International team delves into the findings of PEI’s annual survey of institutional investors to gauge how LP sentiment toward the asset class is evolving. Download the full LP Perspectives 2024 Study here.