Monitor
Private Capital Monitor 02/02
20th February 2024
WORTH A READ
United States
WSJ Pro Private Equity’s Chris Cummings reports that regulators and private equity firms are preparing for a trial which could determine how much control the government has over firms’ disclosure habits. Set to begin on February 5th, the trial’s three-judge panel will hear arguments challenging the August SEC provision requiring firms to tell investors more about the fees they charge.
At this year’s IPEM Cannes, Carolin Blank, head of relationship management EMEA at Hamilton Lane said that the private equity industry needs more standardized fund documents, telling attendees that “transparency really could benefit all investors in the fund, large and small.”
THIS IS IT– THE LEAKY CAULDRON
H/Advisors Abernathy’s annual M&A Leaks Report found that 27% of private equity-backed deals leaked in 2023, as compared to 24% of strategic transactions.
Europe
Nate Berner and Paul Augustine, managing partners at Bering Advisors, share their perspectives on COP28 in the Financial Times’s Alphaville. With investable dry powder reaching or approaching record levels, they believe it could be a transformative period for society. The pair argue current market conditions bring to mind a past scenario where private capital played a crucial role in funding a technological overhaul driven by a substantial allocation from a Gulf kingdom, as seen in SoftBank Vision Funds I and II, but hope for a ‘better’ outcome.
Bloomberg reports the “biggest brains” in the industry such as Ares Management Corp. and BlackRock Inc. are tapping into the expertise of quantitative analysts, traditionally associated with data-intensive areas like stocks or derivatives, to gain an advantage in the rapidly expanding private equity and credit markets, which have surged to $10 trillion over the past decade, according to Preqin.
According to Sifted, Adams Street, a major global fund of funds, intends to boost its investments in European venture capital, in contrast to other significant limited partners reducing their focus on the sector. Ross Morrison, Partner at Adams Street, emphasises their commitment to expanding venture investments, citing Europe’s substantial contribution of a third of global startups, positioning it at par with the United States.
WALL OF MONEY
Macquarie Asset Management raises €8bn for European infra fund
MEIF7 is the seventh vintage of Macquarie Asset Management’s European Infrastructure Fund series. Roughly 92% of commitments came from investors who have previously invested with Macquarie Asset Management, with commitments from 24 investors new to the Macquarie Asset Management platform
KKR raises $6.4 bln for biggest Asia Pacific infrastructure fund
KKR has already invested or committed more than half of its capital from the fund across some 10 investments.
KSL Capital completes continuation fund for Alterra at over $3bn
This single-asset continuation fund will be deployed in travel and leisure enterprises in five primary sectors: hospitality, recreation, clubs, real estate and travel services.
DEAL CHART
MEDIA OF THE WEEK
Tom Robertson, Consultant at H/Advisors Maitland, interviews Pascal Christory, CEO, AXA IM PRIME, at the IPEM private markets conference in Cannes. The pair discuss sustainability, infrastructure, the complexities of the market, and the reasons for AXA’s success.
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
- General Atlantic has hired Chris Kojima as global head of capital solutions based in New York. Kojima will also join the firm’s executive committee. He joins after 28 years at Goldman Sachs, where he held a number of senior roles.
- Blackstone has appointed Thomas R Nides, former longtime Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley, Deputy Secretary of State, and Ambassador to Israel, as Vice Chairman, Strategy and Client Relations.
- Cinven has appointed Bruno Schick, Jorge Quemada and Supraj Rajagopalan as co-managing partners.
- Brookfield Asset Management has appointed Anuj Ranjan as the new Chief Executive Officer of its private equity business.
HORSE’S MOUTH
“There’s room for managers who have better information and better analytics to make better deals”…“That’s more feasible in private markets than it is in public markets because information flows more slowly. You have to make a positive effort to get this stuff.” – Cliff Asness, co-founder of pioneering quant firm AQR Capital Management.
“LPs are looking to the secondaries market as their liquidity solution on a go-forward basis. This market continues to grow, it continues to be the only area where transactions really are occurring in a meaningful way, and I think that will only continue to happen.” – Michael Elio, a partner at StepStone Group.
“In human life, economics precedes politics or culture.” – Park Geun-hye, the first female President of South Korea, born on this day in 1952.
