Private Equity Spotlight

Can private capital really solve the world's biggest challenges? Is there something wrong with the way private equity funds are raised? We discuss the rise and fall of Abraaj with Simon Clark, co-author of 'The Key Man'.

Firms should focus beyond the Commission's 'hot topic' compliance issues and understand their own individual vulnerabilities. 

Having paused, investors will once again begin expanding into more adventurous areas, says William Nicol of M&G.

Journalists across the PEI stable share their insights on an issue that has become top of mind for private fund managers and investors.

We catch up with IFM Investors executive director Tom Osborne on the new bipartisan infra plan, how to implement asset recycling in the US, PPPs, the new IFA and much more.

Co-founder Phil Black describes how the VC firm tracks diversity metrics and works with founders to grow inclusive teams.

Large amounts of capital have been raised for distressed strategies in private debt and real estate, but thanks to government support schemes, finding a home for it is proving a challenge.

Regulators and fund managers are adapting to accommodate greater retail investor participation in private markets, say SEI's Ross Ellis and ANZU Research's Steve Unzicker. 

Founding partner and chief executive Michael Bonte-Friedheim explains why the UK-based firm created NextPower III, the only dedicated international solar fund.

I Squared Capital founder Sadek Wahba discusses why the Biden administration’s infra plan is a crucial first step, and how a US version of the World Bank could play a key role in mobilising private capital.

Executives from Angelo Gordon, Nuveen Real Estate and Canada Life make the business case for their preferred alternative use for the property type.

PEI's editorial team takes a look at the record $180bn raised for private equity in Q1 2021 and how average fund sizes for private debt funds topped $1bn for the first time during the quarter.

Philippe Busslinger, the Canadian pension’s head of infrastructure in Europe, explains what was behind its 8.6% return last year and how it plans to battle increased competition.

Ryan Lanpher at Permira says partnering with strong management teams is the best way to capture value during these unprecedented times.

New Private Markets talks to Pete Stavros, partner and co-head of Americas private equity at KKR, about the firm’s approach to giving employees equity in their companies, and how it could catch on.

Editors from across the PEI stable jump on Zoom to swap thoughts on a growing trend in private markets: linking the cost of fund-level credit facilities to ESG performance.

Government actions are generating opportunities in a range of sectors. Celia Yan of BlackRock tells us where to look.

A level of repayments is coming that some investors are prepared for and others may not be. Eric Lloyd and Jonathan Bock of Barings discuss what happens when loans repay.

Senior reporters and editors from PERE, Infrastructure Investor and Agri Investor dig into the changes most likely to impact their respective asset classes under the new president and Democrat-controlled Congress.

Senior editors from across PEI Media’s titles discuss what they’ll have their eyes on in the coming months, from taxes and SEC oversight to the possibility of the industry being thrown into the public spotlight.

Carlo Pirzio-Biroli, managing partner of Glendower Capital, shares his top tips on how to set up your own fund.

Some investors might shun commercial real estate debt because of the drastic changes that we have seen since the pandemic. Martin Lechner of Corecam and Wayne Lasky of Maxcap Group share their insights on the investing environment down under.

MiddleGround Capital partners John Stewart and Scot Duncan say major supply chain disruptions are opening up opportunities for private equity managers.

Kara Helander and Anna Edwin discuss how they are building diversity, equity and inclusion within their firms, and how the racial justice movement and pandemic have generated momentum for sustained action.

Rendel Solomon discusses why he walked away from a successful career at a $1bn asset manager, and shares some frank thoughts on the state of diversity and inclusion in the industry.

Hamilton Lane’s long-time CEO explains the role he thinks private markets can play in the post-coronavirus rebuild, and why we shouldn’t worry about the public markets rally.

Sandeep Bhadra of Vertex Ventures US discusses how the firm has used White Claw drinks and cookies to maintain communications. He also says initial Zoom meetings will remain in a post-pandemic world.

We catch up with investment bank Evercore's private capital advisory head, who discusses single-asset transactions, secondaries deals in the era of covid-19 and what's in store for the market this year.

Find our analysis of Evercore's mid-year report here.

Two valuation management firms share their strategies for assessing a property’s worth during a time of massive dislocation and uncertainty.

We discuss the factors driving well-known executives to form special purpose acquisition vehicles and take a look at how private equity portfolio companies have adjusted to combat covid-19. 

Andrew Lockhart of Metrics Credit Partners and Kelly Morton of Skye Capital Advisory discuss what's happened to portfolio companies and deal pipelines since the March meltdown, and what the implications are of public relief funds for mid-market lenders.

Is opportunistic credit the next big thing to watch in the asset class? What are others in the markets doing now? Bruce Tomlinson of Sunsuper and Bev Durston of EdgeHaven answer these key questions.

We speak with three prominent female secondaries professionals – Kate Ashton, Martha Heitmann and Johanna Lottmann – and chair of industry body Level 20 George Anson to discuss the barriers to promoting women in secondaries, and how to break them down.

As the pandemic heightens food security anxieties, and just-in-time supply chains suffer, we discuss how the outbreak will impact the asset class’s growth trajectory. We're joined by Fiera Comox partner for agriculture Matthew Corbett and Benjamin Subei, principal at the Boston Consulting Group.

Some experienced investment professionals are seeing their funds take a hit from the pandemic and are considering moving to new pastures. This is one trend identified by Will Invine of Stem7 in a discussion of key issues in alternative assets recruitment.

Our senior editors discuss the findings of our latest surveys looking at how private equity investors and their managers are doing business during the covid-19 crisis.

Also be sure to check out our Investor outlook on 2020 in light of covid-19 presentation at www.privateequityinternational.com to see more results from the LP survey.

What are 'dislocation' funds all about and what are the implications for LPs? Tavneet Bakshi of FirstAvenue, Trevor Castledine of bfinance and Jessica O’Mary of Ropes & Gray discuss the key issues.

The long-term health of the sector is positive if it can navigate its short-term challenges, according to industry experts Richard Nourse of Greencoat Capital and Jeffrey Altman of Finnadvice.

Digital Bridge CEO Marc Ganzi and National Real Estate Advisors CEO Jeff Kanne discuss the evolution of private investment in data centers and why the covid-19 pandemic could be a net-positive for the sector.

Distressed debt and special sits, food production, healthcare and certain VC strategies have received growing attention as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

As low demand and commodity price volatility roils the energy sector, BlackRock's Mark Florian talks with Infrastructure Investor's Jordan Stutts about how an oil production agreement and other market trends are impacting midstream infrastructure assets.

Our senior editorial teams covering PE, private debt, infrastructure, real estate and secondaries discuss the latest in how private markets are responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Plus: ways firms are helping people out in the crisis.

Across the private equity industry, the impacts of the pandemic-spurred economic downturn are being felt in dealmaking, which has slowed or paused fundraising processes while LPs work to understand the status of their portfolios.

Are private asset classes better positioned to weather the crisis? Our senior editorial teams covering PE, private debt, infrastructure, real estate and secondaries provide insight.

Executive recruiters Mary Gay Townsend and Simon Nixon discuss the pros and cons of having your own investor relations team – and whether it's worth it.

Institutional capital is worried about the long-term impacts of 'a global stage that we've never seen before.' Anthony Breault of Oregon State Treasury, Greg MacKinnon of Pension Real Estate Association and Brant Bryan of Cresa tell us what a 'lower-for-longer' interest rate environment means for private real estate.

Executive recruiters Mary Gay Townsend and Simon Nixon, who've helped place some of the biggest names in secondaries over the years, discuss the top issue facing the industry.

Executives from EQT, Permira, The Riverside Company and NewQuest Capital Partners share some of the lessons they've learned, as well as what operating partners can do to help create value and ensure alignment at the pre-deal stage, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Independent sponsors, once known as fundless sponsors, have proliferated in recent years as they shed a reputation for inability to deliver, and have appealed to LPs wanting to commit capital to individual deals.

ILPA senior policy counsel Chris Hayes discusses the organization's new model limited partnership agreement, including how it seeks to restore fiduciary duty to the LP-GP relationship.

California State Teachers' Retirement System deputy CIO Scott Chan and head of real estate Mike DiRe dive into the pension’s new investment strategy: the collaborative model, which prioritizes joint ventures, separate accounts and direct acquisitions.

Agio founder and CEO Bart McDonough discusses strengthening the GP-LP bond, beginning cybersecurity integration at the C-suite, and the need for firms to adopt tailored solutions.

The strategy brings investors reduced fees and managers can write large cheques. Industry practitioners from The Carlyle Group, Cambridge Associates and Kennedy Lewis Investment Management say these are only a few of the upshots.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's concept release on the harmonization of securities offering exemptions could prelude more Main Street access to private equity. PFCFO spoke with experts from law firm Ropes & Gray about what this could mean for PE firms and the future of retail investing.

Veteran headhunter in the private equity space Will Moynahan discusses how general partners can promote diversity and inclusion in their recruitment practices.

Carlyle’s Georgette Kiser discusses the increasingly important and challenging role and why every firm is having to become a data and technology company.

Anubhav Saxena discusses how firms can utilize new technologies to accelerate equity value creation in portfolio companies and build digital workforces.

Preferred equity isn’t new but firms such as 17Capital have been applying it to private equity via dedicated funds. In this 26-minute podcast we speak to managing partner Augustin Duhamel about the strategy that is quietly taking the market by storm.

Proskauer’s Josh Newville and Tim Mungovan talk through the key legal risks facing private equity in 2019.

Private credit might be the new kid on the block in the alternative asset world, but the asset class’s fees have still evolved independently of private equity.

Hans-Jorg Baumann, Alexander Bode and Boerge Grauel discuss competition, supply and demand, bank domination and LP allocation priorities at the PDI Germany Forum 2019.

Fresh from raising a $700m fund in May, Leapfrog Investments’ founder and CEO Andy Kuper talks to Toby Mitchenall about how impact investing will evolve as more firms enter the fray.

Blue chip managers are using stapled secondaries deals to boost fundraising and provide liquidity to LPs. In this episode, lawyers from Proskauer, Debevoise & Plimpton and MJ Hudson discuss how GPs and LPs should approach this increasing transaction type.

Wired contributing editor and futurist Ben Hammersley explains how to deal with exponential growth, discusses the needs created by new technology and explains why cognitive-enhancing infra is a must in the age of AI.

BC Partners' Nikos Stathopoulos gives us a run down on what it is like making the move from private equity into private credit and real estate, in this 10-minute podcast.

Professor Ludovic Phalippou of Oxford University says GPs must accept that some elements of the PE model are not working so well for LPs. Is he a threat to the industry or its saviour?

As the firm celebrates 30 years in the industry, co-founder Bela Szigethy reflects on how the global financial crisis changed the firm for the better. PEI's Isobel Markham reports.

Albright Capital’s Gregory Bowes discusses why improvements in creditor rights and bankruptcy codes in emerging markets mean investors needn’t be weary of the asset class. PEI's Isobel Markham reports.

PERE's Lisa Fu talks with several experts to break down the opportunities, risks and rules that come with the new US federal program creating buzz among real estate investors.

From capital controls and CFIUS to the intensifying trade war, Chinese investors trying to invest in the US are encountering many hurdles. David Blumenfeld and Paul Guan of the law firm Paul Hastings discuss these hurdles with PERE's Arshiya Khullar.

With managers increasingly putting pressure on LPs to enter the carry early, Threadmark partner Patricia Wilkinson and PEI senior editors Bruno Alves, Jonathan Brasse and Toby Mitchenall look across asset classes to find out whether the status quo really is changing.

Are fund managers missing a trick by applying old-fashioned methods to data mining, deal sourcing and investor reporting? We dive into the issues in this 20-minute discussion with Matthias Kirchgaessner of Plexus and Alex Schmid of ESO Capital.

From stapled deals to restructurings, tender offers to strip sales, Andrew Sealey, managing partner and chief executive of Campbell Lutyens, discusses the different types of GP-led deals and how they can benefit all parties.