Episode 309: Peter Wilson of HarbourVest Partners - The Growth that Lies at the Edge of the Comfort Zone

Peter Wilson is Managing Director at HarbourVest Partners, a private markets specialist firm with over $140 billion in assets across 14 offices. Peter has worked at HarbourVest for most of his career, in a series of roles, most recently as one of two members of the firm's Executive Management Committee which ran the firm from 2012 to 2024.

In this broadranging discussion, Peter discusses his career journey and the firm's evolution as well as that of the private equity industry more broadly. We discuss the shift from standardized to bespoke investment strategies, catering to institutional and high net worth clients and some of the more derivative strategies that have emerged, such as secondaries, NAV lending and co-investments.

We discuss the the importance of authenticity in leadership and why pushing outside one's comfort zone and taking on stretch challenges is so important to continue to grow in one's career.

Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!

With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.

Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.