Private Equity Spotlight

Anne Glover: AI will turn some SaaS providers into dinosaurs 08.07.2026 17min

In the world of European venture capital, very few names carry the same weight as Dame Anne Glover. She co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners in 1997 when the idea of a dedicated British deep-tech investment firm was, by most accounts, a little eccentric. London–headquartered Amadeus has backed more than 200 companies over its almost three-decade-long history. Glover herself has chaired both the UK and European private capital associations and this year was awarded a DBE – one of the highest honours in the British system – for outstanding contributions to science and engineering. In this episode, we sit in on a live conversation – recorded at PEI Group’s London headquarters for a PEI Presents discussion – between Dame Anne Glover and senior editor Adam Le. Topics include: the persistent gap in the UK's funding ladder, the untapped potential of British defined contribution pension schemes, what the AI boom means for investors, and the "SaaSpocalypse."

What LPs are looking for in defence-related PE strategies 02.07.2026 18min

Defence investing has been one of the hottest topics in European private equity over the past year. Firms including Warburg Pincus, PEI Group owner Bridgepoint, Carlyle Group and Tikehau Capital have all launched strategies or are mulling them, while LPs such as AkademikerPension, PensionDanmark, M&G Investments, PenSam and Finnish pension insurer Varma have either already invested in PE defence strategies or are considering doing so. In this episode, senior editor Adam Le sits down with EMEA editor for investor intelligence Joe Marsh to delve into the types of strategies LPs are looking for in the defence arena; the challenges that come with exiting defence assets; the role that ESG plays in LPs' investment policies; and why the themes of security, sovereignty and resilience are increasingly on investors' minds. Find all Private Equity International's defence-related coverage here.

PEI's Data Dive: What the PEI 300 reveals about fundraising’s comeback 29.06.2026 26min

This year’s PEI 300 – our annual ranking of the five‑year fundraising totals of the world’s largest private equity firms – shows fundraising returning to near‑normal levels after a muted 2025. Capital raised hit a record $3.55 trillion, an 8 percent increase on last year, compared with just 0.37 percent growth in 2025. Technology managers faced a tougher environment, with several slipping down the ranking. Meanwhile, private wealth continues to gain momentum as more firms prioritise it as a source of capital. To unpack what this means for the industry, PEI Group’s senior content producer Evie Rusman is joined by Adam Le, senior editor for private equity, and Kristina Savcenkova, research manager. Together, they break down the numbers and explore what they signal about the evolving private equity landscape. This is the third episode in Private Equity International’s new Data Dive miniseries, where we dig 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 the asset class is evolving. Listen to previous episodes here and stay tuned for upcoming episodes, which will provide insight into affiliate title Private Funds CFO’s Fees and Expenses Survey 2026 and the 2026 edition of PEI’s Global Investor 150 ranking.

Disruption Matters: The Exit Playbook 22.06.2026 25min

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is returning for its fifth season, and this year, leading industry experts will share their advice on how to generate successful exits during a climate defined by their scarcity. In this teaser episode, we set the stage by exploring all the factors that make exits so elusive right now. We’ll be discussing both the forces GPs can control, and those they can’t – from broader market conditions to decisions around talent, tech and value creation. The good news is that there is a playbook to address the headwinds. The bad news is that it leaves little margin for error and requires unwavering focus, creativity and discipline. In this episode: Jason McDannold is co-lead of the Americas private equity practice at AlixPartners Ted Bililies is global leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners Gregg Jankowski is global co-leader of data and visualization at AlixPartners

Why financial services dealmaking demands deep sector expertise 16.06.2026 39min

This episode is sponsored by FTV Capital and J.C. Flowers & Co Financial services is one of the most active sectors in private equity dealmaking, but getting the highest returns requires deep sector expertise, especially in today's challenging exit environment. In this episode, PE Hub editor-in-chief Mary Kathleen Flynn speaks with Peter Yordán, a managing director of J.C. Flowers & Co, and Kyle Griswold, a partner at FTV Capital, to find out what makes financial services different from other sectors. We also hear their strategies for successful dealmaking, including how AI is changing the landscape.

A GP and LP unpack best (and worst) practices in co-investment 03.06.2026 32min

In the third episode of PEI Group’s Commitment Issues podcast miniseries, Joana Rocha Scaff of Neuberger Berman and Alexis Maskell of BC Partners unwrap the competitive world of private equity co-investments. Over the past few years, such deals have become an expected feature of a GP’s offering, with both investors and managers honing their approaches accordingly. As a very hands-on co-investor, Neuberger Berman looks to “re-underwrite” the asset alongside the GP, Scaff says. She highlights some of the issues that commonly crop up during the process, pointing to bugbears such as GPs going back on promises made or co-investments being pulled into continuation vehicles. For his part, Maskell outlines why he wants to see a variety of sophistication levels among LPs participating in co-investments, including what he likes – and prefers not – to see from clients, and how both sides can work together most effectively.

What’s next for value creation? 26.05.2026 36min

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 12.05.2026 9min

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 05.05.2026 31min

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 15.04.2026 29min

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 09.04.2026 25min

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 30.03.2026 30min

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 20.02.2026 34min

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 12.02.2026 15min

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 23.12.2025 22min

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 18.12.2025 32min

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 15.12.2025 52min

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 01.12.2025 31min

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 28.11.2025 23min

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? 19.11.2025 44min

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.