Forging Confidence

Welcome to IPEM Paris 2024, where we kick off a dynamic journey into private capital, forging ahead with investment confidence as we tackle key challenges and opportunities shaping our industry.

Interview

How is private equity positioned as an asset class today globally? How will recent vintages fare and is now a good time to invest given macro uncertainties? How will GPs differentiate themselves and continue to create value? What role do portfolio company employees and leadership play in this, and how do you forge the confidence and culture they need to drive success from within?

Presentation

In a challenging landscape of higher interest rates and macroeconomic pressures, private markets face both obstacles and opportunities. Despite these difficulties, strong mega trends—such as digitization, automation, new living, decarbonization, and sustainability—are shaping the future of investing. This new environment calls for a more hands-on, operational, and entrepreneurial approach from private capital investors to harness these transformative trends effectively.

• Private markets have become the engine of growth for the real economy, as public markets have become increasingly opportunistic.
• However, given the fundamental macro-economic recalibration, what will truly shape the investment paradigm in the coming years? And what opportunities does this present for private markets?
• As the next transformation of the economy reshapes industries, how must private markets firms adapt their investment approaches to cope with the ever increasing pace of change?
• With a 30tn investment opportunity over the next cycle, where do the opportunities lie for each private markets asset class?

Panel Session

Global fragmentation has picked up pace as trade blocs form behind the world's two largest economies. But what does this mean for investors? Global supply chains suddenly look precarious; the fragile bonds of globalization have become more strained. The panel session takes a deep dive into how LPs are navigating and forging confidence in this environment. The build-up of a new dry powder record, sluggish dealmaking and lack of exit activity has all put a premium on liquidity. How are GPs managing the increased complexities in a rapidly changing world, whilst remaining agile, innovative and efficient? 

Interview

In an uncertain macro environment is it possible to remain committed to one's investment philosophy? Delivering superior investment results in an inefficient market is are  builta built-on knowledge advantage, specialization, relentless skill and effort vs timing the market, do you agree? In this session our interviewee shares his experience of investing through cycles and remaining consistent and committed to an investment thesis. 

Panel Session

Diversification, discipline, and durability are these the secret ingredients to being a successful all-weather investor. How are today's investors contending with impacts from headwinds to topline real growth, margin compression, and a structurally higher cost of capital resulting from higher interest rates? The panel will share their experience and proven strategies on how investors reap the rewards of patient capital whilst pivoting towards an innovative investment approach?  

Interview

A long-term asset class by essence, private equity is used to navigating through up and down cycles. Its roadmap has no reason to be bent by the political upheavals shaking up France. Given the challenges (decarbonation, IA, value sharing schemes, etc.) entrepreneurs face. PE firms should seize the opportunity to assert themselves as their most effective “sparring partner”.  This session will go over the competitive advantages of France on the European scene and the need to give the market players stable and predictable business environment.  

Interview

Today, private capital extends far beyond traditional private equity and is being used to help companies large and small achieve their business goals and manage challenging markets. Add to this how the New Economy growth agenda – whether in next-gen technology, infrastructure or energy transition – creates massive capex needs that are increasingly funded by long-term private capital. In this session, Apollo’s Head of Europe Rob Seminara will discuss how private capital is fuelling business in creative new ways while navigating macro headwinds, geopolitical uncertainty and changing market structure. 

Panel Session

This session delves into the exponential growth of the private credit market and answers questions on whether private credit is too good to be true? Favourable regulation and a "Goldilocks economy" turbocharged private credit forward to this point. Our panellists debate private credit markets status quo: will it be able to sustain its momentum, or will growth be undermined by competition, higher interest rates, and the threat of inflation?  Are the risks from the private credit market being ‘dialled up’ by regulators? Primary credit markets: size, structure, pricing: what do LPs need and what can credit markets offer? 

Panel Session

European mega-funds—vehicles of €1 billion or larger—secured record amounts of capital last year, according to Pitchbook. Macroeconomics headwinds pushed LPs toward established managers with proven track records over smaller funds. The result was fewer but larger fund closes. According to analysis, there is a record US$1.1 trillion of uninvested dry powder sitting in buyout funds, with buyout firms also holding a US$2.8 trillion worth of assets in portfolios.  There is mounting LP pressure on managers to transact, has this been a factor in pockets of increased activity in 2024? 

Panel Session

Climate investing is shaping up to be a generational opportunity. Are we seeing GPs adhere to best practices for ESG integration, measurement, and reporting? How are investors aligning their objectives with broader sustainability goals? Has the consensus of commitment to climate investing in Europe vs the US become polarised? Has climate and ESG become wholly politicised? Will climate investing be split between the believers and non-believers? Are we seeing carbon pricing consistently into asset valuations? 

Fireside Chat

The session takes a deep dive into investing through cycles, the rise, the peak, the dipping and bottoming out stages. The secret to forging confidence an invest through cycles we will hear what principles the interviewee lives by when it comes to investing for the long-term and keeping investors on committed. 

Panel Session

The panellist share their thoughts on the role of private capital in the new era of capital formation and mega trends. How interest rates, valuations, leverage, liquidity, infrastructure and secondary funds made headlines news in 2024. What is the new value creation levers that GP need to add to their toolkit? Are LPs focused on building and sticking to existing relationships, if so, what can emerging managers do to catch their eye? Will sector specialist funds benefit from the mega trends: Low carbon economy and AI and digital transformation? What will different operating models, value creation playbooks look like in the future? 

Presentation

Where are investors looking for opportunities in the current climate: How are LPs approaching new investments and what do they need to see from GPs when deciding where to allocate-regions, sectors, fund strategies? Are LPs evolving their approach to manager selection and due diligence?

The IPEM 2025 Allocation and Fundraising Report, created in collaboration with AlixPartners, examines the investment preferences of over 1,000 limited partners (LPs) and the fundraising efforts of more than 800 general partners (GPs) at the conference. The report provides insights into the current market landscape, outlines where LPs intend to invest, details their priorities and selection criteria, and highlights key market opportunities and imbalances./

Interview

Managing and updating portfolios in an era of volatility, balancing liquidity with asset allocation goals will be a science in the coming years. Evaluating portfolios against target allocations now face an equilibrium conundrum – if and how to rebalance and whether there is sufficient liquidity to do so. Will the performance gap between top and bottom-quartile funds widen? Will LPs be striking a balance between caution and risk in the manager selection processes to make the right choices for the market cycle ahead? 

Panel Session

Private capital money management industry has grown at the speed of light. Between 2017 and 2022, private market firms' combined AUM grew at an annual rate of close to 20%, according to McKinsey & Co. Private capital total assets AUM is expected to double to $23.3 trillion by the end of 2027 from $11.7 trillion as of June 30, 2022, a Preqin analysis shows. The differentiating factor between the winners and losers will place the investors who were early to identify the 'next big thing' right on top.  

Panel Session

The post-pandemic years have been frantic for private equity investors, with record number of deals, sky high valuations and cheap loads of leverage. The consecutive surge of interest rates has been a tipping point and bringing a very challenging deal, exit and financing environment for buyouts. How will the 2020s vintages be remembered in hindsight? How will LPs and GPs have navigated them? 

Panel Session

On the back of tightening liquidity and a slowdown in distributions and fundraising, are we seeing an increase in LP appetite for innovative fund strategies?  NAV financing, dividend recapitalization, GP led secondaries and continuation vehicles have shone bright in 2024? 

Panel Session

With barriers to entry falling, alternative and private assets are set to become increasingly important in retail investors portfolios.  Can we expect to see fund sizes continuing to grow and get larger in the next ten years? How is the retail market evolving and growing? Where is the innovation coming from? How are wealth managers and advisors working with private investors to help them understand the dynamics of the equity landscape? What structures, strategies, and sectors are best aligned with the risk-return profile of the retail investors? Are open-ended structures playing an important role in democratising Private Market assets? 

Fireside Chat

Sports is an asset class that has outperformed and in many ways is uncorrelated, even as deal activity, fundraising, and exits have slowed everywhere. Billionaires and PE firms continue to acquire and invest in sports teams. Is sports investing finally having its moment and no longer seen as a passion? How do investors add value to teams at a time when demand for sports exposure outweighs the supply of investment opportunities available? How is structured finance impacting sports? The fireside chat takes a deep dive into the opportunities for creatively structured investments such as equity-linked debt or senior equity as the tighter restrictions on private capital in sports investing dial up.  

Presentation

Despite the brutal headwinds of rising inflation, energy costs, and interest rates, the world economy has shown surprising resilience. Why is this happening, and what does it mean for private capital? Is the new investing environment of “higher for longer” interest rates sustainable for private businesses, deals, and valuations? Can the European and US economies withstand new shocks without major damage, and what are the risks to watch more closely? 

Fireside Chat

Astronauts, having firsthand experience, understand better than anyone the critical role space plays in our collective future. As more actors engage in the space sector, we are entering an era where space is increasingly recognised as a new investment asset class in both public and private markets. Looking ahead, investment and public interest in the Space Tech domain will continue to grow. Space is becoming the digital infrastructure that will allow us to map, monitor, manage, and connect our planet, bringing transformative changes similar to those brought by railroads or the internet. This is a multigenerational investment. 

Panel Session

Good governance is regarded by many as aan existential threat to managers. Clear and transparent disclosure will be an imperative in the coming years. Is good stewardship of capital in sharp focus for investors? Our panel takes a deep dive into factors are driving LP allocation to private equity and the longer-term opportunities in the asset class. This session looks at what short term structural shifts and long-term regulatory changes will impact the industry in the coming years. 

Panel Session

The stagnant M&A market has impacted LP liquidity levels as they wait for distributions. LPs continue to pour capital into secondaries funds, emerging as a bright spot in a broadly chilled fundraising climate. In 2023-2024 LP-led deals comprised the majority of secondary market share, the rapid growth in the market can largely be attributed to the substantial rise in GP-led transactions, is there any end to this growth? 

Panel Session

This panel dives into the critical due diligence process that LPs undertake before investing. They will share the tough, essential questions they always ask GPs, balancing systematic analysis with gut instinct. Hear real-life stories about questions they wish they had asked and the red flags that made them walk away, providing invaluable insights into the decision-making process behind successful investments.

Closing Remarks