Secondaries Investor’s Second Thoughts

This episode originally aired on April 15, 2024 A decade ago, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, anxiety around unknowns was still rippling through financial markets, including within secondaries. Similarly, there was a great deal of concern around the Volcker Rule that came into effect in 2014, which essentially prohibited banks from investing in private equity with their own funds. In 2013, secondaries volume sat at around $28 billion. The following year, volume leapt to $42 billion. While regulation should not be overplayed, the Volcker Rule and Solvency II – a regulation affecting insurance companies and the percentage of risky assets they can hold on their balance sheets – played a big role in this increase. In 2014, "There was suddenly... a lot more publicity being given to what people had been doing," Katherine Ashton, partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, explained. "With the increased publicity, with the increased knowledge of the market, that fed on itself and led to outdoing some of the predictions [for the growth of the market] because the more people realised that there were willing buyers and sellers, the more it allowed the market to develop." Welcome to the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, where we celebrate 10 years of Secondaries Investor with reflections on key trends that have shaped the market, as well as a glimpse into what likely lies ahead. In this first episode, we sit down with Ashton as well as Michael Granoff, chief executive and founder at Pomona Capital. Each give insight into how the Volcker Rule and other post-GFC legislative frameworks spurred secondaries sales. For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

This episode originally aired on March 26, 2024 In this episode, Secondaries Investor's Madeleine Farman, Adam Le and Hannah Zhang cut through the headline figures in 2023's advisory reports to break down geographic trends and key themes in the market. Total deal volume sat somewhere in the region of $109 billion to $115 billion in 2023 with LP-led volume making up $56 billion to $66 billion. Farman, Le and Zhang delve into topics including APAC secondaries market activity, structured liquidity offerings such as NAV loans, preferred equity and GP commit financing, and the popularity of multi-asset continuation funds as managers seek to find ways to generate DPI for LPs.

This episode originally aired on January 2, 2024 In this episode, Ardian's co-head of secondaries and primaries Vladimir Colas makes a bold prediction for the secondaries market: the first private equity fundraise to breach the $30 billion mark will be a secondaries vehicle. LP portfolios being brought to market are only growing in size, and if they could, sellers would be offloading even larger portfolios. However, secondaries activity is still constrained by the amount of capital available to deploy into these transactions. Colas sat down with senior reporter Madeleine Farman to discuss how large the secondaries market could become in the near future, as well as how many new entrants Ardian expects to break into the secondaries market in 2024 and beyond.

This episode originally aired on November 1, 2023 Secondaries funds investing in private equity opportunities that held their final close between January and the end of September raised $67.69 billion – a 168 percent jump on the same period last year and 46 percent more than the previous record of $46.44 billion raised in Q1-Q3 2020. In this episode, senior reporter Madeleine Farman and senior editor Adam Le dig further into the numbers to discuss whether 2023 could be a record year for secondaries fundraising; whether the secondaries market will continue to grapple with an under-allocation issue; and whether coffers are beginning to fill versus the opportunities that are out there in the market.

This episode originally aired on September 1, 2023 In this episode, the spotlight is on our yearly ranking of the top secondaries firms globally. Blackstone Strategic Partners has topped this year's SI 50 ranking published by Secondaries Investor and Private Equity International, raising $51.3 billion across funds that closed between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2023. Senior reporter Madeleine Farman speaks with global head Verdun Perry, discussing the state of the secondaries market, what Strategic Partners is looking for in opportunities currently, and some of the key moments across Perry's career.

This episode first aired June 30, 2023 Senior reporter Madeleine Farman and senior editor Adam Le discuss the key findings underpinning Secondaries Investor's Advisory Survey 2023 and Law Firm Survey 2023.

This episode first aired on April 26, 2023 Presenting the second instalment of Second Thoughts, a special series from Secondaries Investor that delves into the latest trends affecting the fastest-growing market in alternatives.

This episode first aired on February 8, 2023 Presenting the first instalment of Second Thoughts, a special series from Secondaries Investor that delves into the latest trends affecting the fastest-growing market in alternatives.

Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast focuses exclusively on private markets' burgeoning secondaries market, which is offering liquidity to its underlying illiquid asset classes. Hear analysis from Secondaries Investor's global team of journalists and interviews with the market's most influential players and rising stars discussing the dynamics shaping this ever-evolving area.