Private Equity Spotlight

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.

Steven Batchelor, Co-CEO of Hg Capital, a European B2B software investor, and Yangge Seaman, Head of Private Investments for Children’s Health, discuss how slower exits reshape liquidity. They cover realisation committees, secondary sales, continuation vehicles, NAV loans, and how LPs and GPs adapt governance and partnership to manage distributions and alignment through cycles.

Rob Kotecki, deputy editor covering exits, fundraising and AI trends. Graham Bippart, senior editor tracking PE operations, tech and continuation vehicles. Bill Myers, Washington correspondent focused on regulation and policy. They discuss a lighter regulatory mood, fundraising outlook and continuation vehicles. They explore practical AI use, creative exit strategies, operational rigor and retail investor challenges.

Hannah Zhang, an expert in North American private equity and retail capital, teams up with Alex Lin, the Hong Kong bureau chief specializing in Asia-Pacific trends. They dive into the surge of 401(k) access to private markets and the monumental growth in the secondaries market. The discussion highlights the resurgence of interest in China, especially in tech and AI, amidst evolving geopolitical tides. They also explore the expansion of GP offices into Tokyo and the dynamic fundraising activities in Hong Kong that signify a recovery in the private equity ecosystem.

Sabina Comis, a global managing partner and tax expert in private equity, and Kenneth Young, an M&A partner at Dechert, dive into the 2026 Global Private Equity Outlook. They discuss the evolving landscape of continuation funds and why they're crucial for liquidity post-COVID. The duo also explores emerging investor pools, regional differences in GP stake divestitures, and the growing intersection of defense investments with AI. Excitingly, they highlight opportunities in infrastructure and the democratization of private equity access for retail investors.

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

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.

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.

Dipanjan 'DJ' Deb, Co-founder and CEO of Francisco Partners, brings his expertise in tech buyouts, discussing the impact of AI trends and market bifurcation. Louis Samson, Co-president of Platinum Equity, shares insights on complex deal structuring and the effects of tariffs on M&A activity. They explore the rebound in deal volume, emphasizing the need for agility and tailored exit strategies. With a focus on operational transformation, they highlight the importance of patience and a steady investment approach in today's shifting landscape.

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.