Private Market Talks: Conversations and insights on the private markets with private capital’s leading figures.

Digital Infrastructure – the cell towers, data centers, fiber and small cells that power our wireless and mobile data  – is one of the fastest growing investment sectors today.  New technologies such as 5G and IoT have put increasing demands on what many call the fourth utility and now, comes AI – the most demanding technology yet.  As the global economy transitions to all things digital, powering this revolution has become mission-critical. On this episode of Private Market Talks, we explore what is required to operate, build and scale the infrastructure at the heart of a converging digital ecosystem. We also discuss the unique real estate, energy and regulatory challenges of developing this infrastructure.  Our guest on this installment is Kyle Colvin, managing director at DigitalBridge, an $80 billion global asset manager specializing in investing in digital infrastructure. DigitalBridge is a pioneer in the digital infrastructure landscape – not just as an investor but also as an operator through active management of its portfolio companies. Also joining us today on this episode to lend his insights is Kunal Dogra, a partner in Proskauer’s M&A group who focuses on digital infrastructure.

On this episode of Private Market Talks, we’re joined by Tim Flynn, Co-Founder and CEO of Hayfin, an alternative asset manager that has invested €35 billion of capital across more than 470 portfolio companies since its founding in 2009. Over the course of the conversation, we cover a wide range of topics, including the investment principles that have made Tim and his team so successful in private credit and leveraged finance. Tim also describes what may be one of the most interesting career paths we’ve heard on Private Market Talks – from beekeeper to investor, and stops in between, and talks about the learnings from each experience that he still applies to this day. And of course, Tim discusses his view of the state of the private market and how it shapes Hayfin’s nimble investment strategy. It’s a great conversation and all happening on this episode of Private Market Talks!

Sengal Selassie is the founder and CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors, a private credit firm with more than $5 billion in assets under management. Brightwood is a unique investor, providing financing to both non-sponsored-backed businesses as well as sponsor-backed companies across the middle market. They also invest in just five distinct industry verticals: technology & telecommunications, healthcare, business services, transportation & logistics and franchising. Our conversation covers Sengal’s path to the creation of Brightwood, the evolution of its investment strategy and how he thinks about investing with sponsor-backed and non-sponsor-backed companies. We also explore the unique challenges and special gratification of working with family-founded, entrepreneur-owned businesses, including Brightwood’s sourcing, underwriting and risk management strategies. Finally, Sengal discusses what he looks for in prospective team members and his thoughts on the importance of diversity in building a strong asset management team.

On this episode of Private Market Talks, we welcome back Tina Fordham, founder of Fordham Global Foresight. We last spoke with Tina about a year ago in Season 1 Episode 5, in which she discussed how investors are faced with a very different geopolitical landscape today than has existed over the past 30 years, and how investors have had to raise their political quotient and learn to “firewalk” geopolitical crises.   In this episode, Tina takes us on a deeper dive, into what she describes a Geopolitical Supercycle.  Our conversation is wide-ranging and includes the recent developments in the war in Ukraine, Putin’s ambitions, challenges presented by China and the potential impact of the US election. Tina also shares practical advice that she is giving to CEOs, boards and investors as to how to account for geopolitical risks in connection with their investment strategy. Our conversation is a fascinating exploration of the complexities of the intersection of geopolitics and investing. 

Private equity was on fire globally, at least until 2023. Fundraising targets got ever larger and deal activity was on a roll. So, what changed and what can both investors and managers expect for 2024? In this episode of Private Market Talks, we speak with Fraser van Rensburg, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Asante Capital. Fraser explains the current fundraising environment and dives into the impact of higher for longer interest rates, the denominator effect and other factors on private equity fundraising. He also explains the rise of continuation funds and the attraction of private credit funds. We cover a lot of ground. Enjoy the conversation!

As growing companies delay IPOs or sales, private company secondaries have become a rapidly growing market opportunity, especially as investors, founders and employees seek liquidity by selling a portion of their investment in a private company. Tom Callahan, CEO of Nasdaq Private Market (NPM), recently joined Private Market Talks to discuss the private company secondaries market – a historically opaque and inefficient market – and the challenges faced by investors, founders and employees when they go to trade their shares. He also takes us through how NPM is uniquely positioned to create a transparent, tech-friendly, efficient and trusted platform for trading of these secondaries. And, with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, Tom also shares his advice for anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit looking to make their mark in the sector.

Bryan Corbett, president and CEO of the Managed Funds Association, walks us through regulatory policy issues affecting the global alternative asset management industry. Throughout this episode, Bryan dives deep into the potential impact of the new rules and the issues that they raise for managers and investors. This is a must-listen episode for any alternative asset manager.

This week on Private Market Talks, Warburg Pincus’ Global Head of ESG, Leela Ramnath invites us to look at how ESG drives growth. Leela is one of the leaders of a private equity task force that developed a methodology to analyze key ESG factors specific to the unique needs of each company and which are vital for achieving long term growth and resiliency, along with and never without, sustainability.  On the podcast, Leela helps identify the link between a company’s performance and its ability to have access to capital, through their ESG priorities and data reporting. She uncovers the fundamental issues and concepts that constitute ESG and how management teams can better understand how those issues influence a company’s success. 

Welcome to Season Two of Private Market Talks. We start this season with a conversation with Kevin Foley, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets for J.P. Morgan, the world’s largest bank. J.P. Morgan is a major player across the financial markets and Kevin is uniquely positioned to discuss a wide range of topics related to debt and global economic activity.     Over the course of the episode, Kevin and host Peter Antoszyk compare today’s economic landscape to its activity when they last spoke, in the Fall of 2022. They also dive into interest rate trends, corporate credit fundamentals and the future of private credit before rounding the conversation with views on the M&A market and a few quick-fire questions. We hope you enjoy this episode of Private Market Talks. 

This week on Private Market Talks, Neuberger Berman’s Susan Kasser discusses the specific values at the core of building a top-tier private debt group as well as each investment decision. She also talks about the three “C’s” for creating a successful team and offers an insightful, self-proven piece of advice. Later in the episode, Susan looks back at the evolution of private debt and we hear her thoughts on what’s been done right over the past 20 years in terms of investments, what’s to be improved and where is the asset class going. Finally, Susan shares her thoughts on what portfolio managers can do to prepare for unforeseen dislocations in a post-pandemic environment.