My takeaways from the Private Markets Indaba
Pardon the Interruption
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I really enjoyed all of the sessions at the mallowstreet Private Markets Indaba yesterday:
The strongest message is that there is a need for clear framework to measure impact investment effectively, especially as firms increasingly seek to align their investments with broader social goals. Private equity is ripe for impact investing due to:
- Level of influence: private equity allows for direct involvement in companies, helping to set impact agendas and drive value creation.
- Access to information and tools: this comes as part of the private equity investment process.
- Long-term asset class: since assets will be held for at least five years, there is a meaningful ability to set an agenda, drive change, and create value.
- Solving long-term problems: venture capital, a subset of private equity, focuses on building breakthrough technologies that can make real-world impact.
While private markets may be less volatile than public ones (despite current high interest rates and tight credit spreads), illiquid assets were identified as a challenge for pension funds:
- More collaboration is needed to allow for liquidity when moving through a buyout or risk transfer exercise.
- Commercial real estate remains unattractive to many, but it presents opportunities for those willing to conduct thorough due diligence.
- While regulators are essential for ensuring market stability, there is a need for them to adapt more quickly to industry demands.
I also enjoyed and learned a lot from the discussions about how important it is to find the balance between private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and real estate in building a resilient private markets strategy.
Interspersed with these sessions we had four investment workshops focusing on:
Interspersed with these sessions we had four investment workshops focusing on:
- Challenging Perceptions: How UK Real Estate can Deliver Against Pension, Government and Sustainability Objectives (Columbia Threadneedle Investments)
- A New Commodities Cycle? Generating Diversified and Differentiated Returns and Income from Commodities Credit (Gemcorp)
- European Infrastructure Debt: Resilience for the Long Term (MetLife Investment Management)
- European Infrastructure Debt: Resilience for the Long Term (TCW)
It was a fascinating day – what were your takeaways?
