PEI’s Data Dive: Reading the signals in secondaries sentiment

The private markets industry is suffering from an overabundance of managers – a main cause of the challenged fundraising environment, according to Hamilton Lane's executive co-chairman. "Let's say it clearly: we have way too many managers," Erik Hirsch told PEI Private Equity senior editor Adam Le in the latest episode of Spotlight. "LPs don't need that many. It's diluted the talent pool to some extent. That's more of the reality rather than some temporary fundraising challenge," he said. In this episode, Hirsch also discusses the zombie fund phenomenon and how it's likely to play out; how the secondaries market can continue to stay "healthy"; and why his firm isn't steering away from software exposure amid the AI boom.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries has returned for its fifth season, and this year, our focus is on providing an ‘Exit Playbook’, wherein leading industry experts share their advice on how to generate successful exits during a climate defined by their scarcity. In our sixth and final episode of the season, we examine how best to recover from a stalled exit process. Our guests delve into ways to diagnose what went wrong and help management get a second wind to begin the process again. In many ways, a stalled process can be used to reset the stage for a successful exit by using the same principles and tactics we’ve covered all season long. Guests include: Brian Cassidy, president of Crestview; Alexis Underwood, partner at Wynnchurch; Adrian Letts, managing partner and head of business operations, Brookfield PE; Saurabh Singh, partner at AlixPartners; Neil Kalvelage, senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at Centerbridge; Lane McDonald, managing director for operations & strategy at OMERS Private Equity; Doron Grossman, former CEO and operating partner; Alex Greenbaum, partner and head of active core infrastructure at EQT; Helen Lee Bouygues, operating partner at Ardian; Chris Satchell, head of portfolio tech at CD&R; Chris Taber, partner and managing director at AlixPartners; Fahim Ahmed, COO of BC Partners; Mike Hollander, managing director at GTCR; Jason McDannold, co-lead of the Americas private equity practice at AlixPartners; and Riccardo Basile, operating partner and head of value creation at Permira.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries has returned for its fifth season, and this year, our focus is on providing an ‘Exit Playbook’, wherein leading industry experts share their advice on how to generate successful exits during a climate defined by their scarcity. This is a six-part miniseries, and we’ll be releasing a new episode here on Private Equity Spotlight every week. But if you’d rather not wait, you can listen to the whole series right now. Just click this link – if you already have a Private Equity International account, simply sign in, or register for free to access all six episodes. In this fifth episode of the season, we focus on the human capital issues that matter most in completing a successful exit. They include how to properly align interests for management, which needs to be reviewed on a regular basis, not just at the start of the investment. We discuss when to expand the “circle of trust” as the exit process moves forward, and how to address other key constituents, including customers. Guests include: Matteo Stefanel, managing partner and co-founder of Apis Partners; Saurabh Singh, partner at AlixPartners; Maurizio Mussi, partner and head of portfolio group, Europe, at Bain Capital; Mike Hollander, managing director at GTCR; Ellen Havdala, managing director at Equity Group Investments; Brian Cassidy, president of Crestview; Fahim Ahmed, COO of BC Partners; Jason McDannold, co-lead of the Americas private equity practice at AlixPartners; and Ted Bililies, global leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries has returned for its fifth season, and this year, our focus is on providing an ‘Exit Playbook’, wherein leading industry experts share their advice on how to generate successful exits during a climate defined by their scarcity. In this fourth episode of the season, we look at timing. This is a six-part miniseries, and we’ll be releasing a new episode here on Private Equity Spotlight every week. But if you’d rather not wait, you can listen to the whole series right now. Just click this link – if you already have a Private Equity International account, simply sign in, or register for free to access all six episodes. In a perfect world, a portfolio company would perform so brilliantly that the buyers would show up unprompted. But managers live in the real world, so they need to consider several “trigger points” that would support launching an exit process. Naturally, performance is key, but it’s also performance that substantiates the sales story. The company may need time to develop that story so it can educate the market on what they’ve accomplished and why there’s even more value to unlock, because no one is looking to pay top dollar for an enterprise whose best days are in the rearview mirror. Guests include: Alex Greenbaum, partner and head of active core infrastructure at EQT; Chris Taber, partner and managing director at AlixPartners; Jerome Losson, partner and head of portfolio operations at Ambienta; Matteo Stefanel, managing partner and co-founder of Apis Partners; Lane McDonald, managing director for operations & strategy at OMERS Private Equity; Alexis Underwood, partner at Wynnchurch; Megha Kalsi, partner on the cyber team at AlixPartners; Maurizio Mussi, partner and head of portfolio group, Europe, at Bain Capital; Doron Grosman, former CEO and operating partner; Mike Hollander, managing director at GTCR; Helen Lee Bouygues, operating partner at Ardian; Riccardo Basile, operating partner and head of value creation at Permira; Neil Kalvelage, senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at Centerbridge; Brian Cassidy, president of Crestview; Adrian Letts, managing partner and head of business operations at Brookfield PE; Fahim Ahmed, COO of BC Partners; Jason McDannold, co-lead of the Americas private equity practice at AlixPartners; and Stuart Walker, partner at Cinven.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries has returned for its fifth season, and this year, our focus is on providing an ‘Exit Playbook’, wherein leading industry experts share their advice on how to generate successful exits during a climate defined by their scarcity. This is a six-part miniseries, and we’ll be releasing a new episode here on Private Equity Spotlight every week. But if you’d rather not wait, you can listen to the whole series right now. Just click this link – if you already have a Private Equity International account, simply sign in, or register for free to access all six episodes. In this third episode of the season, our guests make the case that any investment case needs to be tied to the likeliest exit scenarios. Not all value creation efforts are created equal in the eyes of the buyer, so the journey to exit needs to be supporting the story the seller hopes to pitch the market. This also means taking a hard look at the current management teams and the IT solutions to ensure the company is built to grow and sustain that performance. And that’s best done as early as possible. Guests include: Jerome Losson, partner and head of portfolio operations at Ambienta; Matteo Stefanel, managing partner and co-founder of Apis Partners; Saurabh Singh, partner at AlixPartners; Alexis Underwood, partner at Wynnchurch; Chris Satchell, head of portfolio tech at CD&R; Megha Kalsi, partner on the cyber team at AlixPartners; Maurizio Mussi, partner and head of portfolio group, Europe, at Bain Capital; Helen Lee Bouygues, operating partner at Ardian; Doron Grosman, former CEO and operating partner; Riccardo Basile, operating partner and head of value creation at Permira; Neil Kalvelage, senior managing director and head of portfolio operations at Centerbridge; Brian Cassidy, president of Crestview; Jason McDannold, co-lead of the Americas private equity practice at AlixPartners; and Adrian Letts, managing partner and head of business operations at Brookfield PE.