Spotlight: A PEI Podcast

Tariff turmoil, trade wars and real conflict in the Middle East – these are just some of the challenges private equity participants have had to navigate so far this year. Speaking to senior editor Adam Le, David Gross, co-managing partner at Bain Capital, said volatility and uncertainty is nothing new for investors. “I’d be the first to agree that it’s a very disorienting time period,” Gross said. He points out, however, that volatility and uncertainty have characterised almost the past two decades. “Since the global financial crisis, we’ve seen heightened volatility in the investing world. If you just look at the VIX [volatility index] and other metrics, and the market windows that are open in the public market, you’ve seen heightened volatility." Gross, who has been with the firm for 25 years and is also managing partner of Asia, discusses what effective investors need in uncertain environments, the attraction of defence investing in Europe, the exit environment, and why the firm has no current plans to launch a secondaries investment business.

This episode is sponsored by Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and first appeared on The PERE Podcast The Dutch residential market has remained resilient despite economic turbulence and rising interest rates and is now emerging as a prime destination for international investors. In this episode, Paul van Stiphout of Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and Jorrit Arissen of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management unpack the forces driving the market’s strength – from a deep-rooted rental culture and robust occupancy levels to increasing demand for senior and student housing. With the Netherlands facing a housing shortfall, Van Stiphout and Arissen discuss how foreign capital will be essential to bridge the gap. They also explore how demographic trends and public funding cuts are creating opportunities in niche sectors, such as senior living, which saw investment jump to €724 million in 2024.

This episode is sponsored by Pomona Capital and Proskauer and first appeared on Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast While the Trump administration's tariff announcements and the subsequent unfurling of uncertainty globally does create some headaches, it also creates a tailwind for the LP-led secondaries market. "What the market has trouble adjusting to is uncertainty. And what happens in times of uncertainty, like the times we're dealing in now, is that [M&A and IPO] transactions tend to pull away," Michael Granoff, founder and chief executive of Pomona Capital, said in this episode. "That uncertainty does tend to push more sellers into the secondary market... And so, in a funny way, it's not that we're uncorrelated to the world – we are – but on the other side of things, all of those things that keep us up at night that we're talking about actually create more opportunity for a buyer in the secondaries market." While market participants continued to put their heads down and get deals done that were far along when the tariff announcements occurred, secondaries professionals are still working to digest second- and third-order impacts, Galen Lewis, a partner in Proskauer's private funds group, explained. "Normally, distress of some sort is something that creates additional volume in the secondaries market." In this far-reaching discussion, Granoff and Lewis discuss a variety of issues affecting the LP-led market and the drivers of underlying deal volume, including the regulatory developments that may spur or hinder LP-led portfolio sales in the coming year, the rise of '40 Act capital, as well as new entrants.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can deliver “weatherproof growth”, despite the headwinds of a tech revolution, geopolitics and volatile global markets. In this second episode, we focus on how best to assess, manage and, where necessary, recruit leaders capable of delivering growth in the face of such macroeconomic uncertainty. We learn about the very special “PhDs” that are fit for the moment, how technology can help with such a task, and how analog issues still matter most when it comes to leadership. Guests include Ted Bililies, global co-leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners; Jason McDannold, Americas co-leader of private equity at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, global co-leader, AI and data at AlixPartners; Allison Walker, head of talent for FTV Capital; Tyler Wolfram, managing partner of Oak Hill Capital Partners; Ditte Marstrand Wulf, head of leadership and culture at Triton; Andrew Weinberg, founder, CEO and co-chair of Brightstar Capital Partners; and Erik Brooks, founder and managing partner of Ethos Capital. For further reading on this show’s topics: Transformative Leadership: What it is and why it matters The Golden Age Of AI Experimentation For CEOs | AlixPartners (part one of two) AI Alone Won’t See Companies Succeed: Leadership Will | AlixPartners (part two of two) Clips Any Given Sunday, Oliver Stone, Warner Bros. Patton, Franklin J Schaffner, 20th Century Fox Stand and Deliver, Ramón Menéndez, Warner Bros.

Having navigated headwinds from interest rate hikes and secular shifts in office usage and online shopping in recent years, the US commercial mortgage-backed securities market was seemingly embracing a full resurgence. In 2024, its origination hit a record $104.05 billion, a 165 percent increase from the previous year.   While that momentum continued into the first quarter of 2025, it stumbled when the overall capital markets were taken on a volatile ride after the Trump administration’s announcement in April about massive changes in tariffs. As a result, April was a much quieter month for CMBS. Deals got pulled or paused, and there were fewer loans priced.   Borrowers, issuers and bond buyers told PERE Credit that although the activities were slowed down by the unprecedented market volatility, the market stabilized swiftly, with spreads gradually grinding back and new originations returning going into May.  Often viewed as a barometer of the broader commercial real estate market, the sector’s swift recovery after market turmoil signals the resilience of the industry in an uncertain macroeconomic environment. In this episode, Zachary Cohn, managing director at Brookfield Asset Management, and James Stouse, senior director of CMBS credit research at Barings, shared their observations on the CMBS resurgence.  For more insights on this, see PERE Credit‘s June/July cover story.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for its fourth season, and this year, leading industry experts will discuss how private markets can still deliver “weatherproof growth”, despite the headwinds of a revolution in tech, geopolitics and global markets. In this first episode, we set the stage by acknowledging the unique pressures of the moment, as well as what they have in common with covid and how they differ. Our experts then detail the best practices around 100-day response plans, which are all-hands-on-deck sprints to respond to pressures on a company’s fortunes. Sustained discipline and collaborating with customers prove to be the keys to unlocking the latent potential of a disruption. As one panelist puts it, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Guests include Jason McDannold, co-lead of the private equity practice at AlixPartners; Hoyoung Pak, partner, managing director and global co-lead of the AI & Data Practice Group at AlixPartners; Mary Rachide, a managing director with ICV Partners; Bert Notini, a managing director at New Mountain Capital and co-lead of the firm’s operating partner group; and John Sander, a principal in portfolio solutions at Lightyear Capital.

The growth of private equity fundraising is slowing down. The 300 firms that feature on the 2025 edition of the PEI 300 – Private Equity International’s annual ranking of the industry’s biggest fundraisers – collectively raised $3.29 trillion over the preceding five years. While still a record high for the industry, the level of year-on-year growth is a departure from prior iterations. On average, the PEI 300 grows by 11 percent in total capital raising each year. The 0.3 percent rise in this year’s ranking may therefore be a cause for concern, market sources tell us. In this episode of Spotlight, PEI editor Helen de Beer, senior editor Adam Le and Americas correspondent Hannah Zhang delve into the reasons behind this fundraising flatline and examine some of the bright spots that exist beyond the headline numbers. Click here to see this year's PEI 300 ranking and full coverage. Click here to learn more about the Nexus conference in Orlando, February 22-25, 2026

This episode is sponsored by LaSalle Debt Investors and Kayne Anderson  In the wake of rising rates and falling transaction volumes, US real estate debt markets are undergoing a significant transformation. Traditional lenders – especially regional banks – have stepped back, opening space for private credit providers to play a larger role. As a looming wave of loan maturities approaches, participants are preparing for both stress and opportunity. They're deploying capital selectively, often in the form of rescue financing, while building platforms that can flex across cycles. What emerges isn’t a market in freefall or overdrive, but a reset where discipline and structure matter more than ever. Joining us in this episode is David Selznick, chief investment officer of Kayne Anderson’s real estate group, and Craig Oram, president and fund manager at LaSalle Debt Investors. They share how their firms are adapting by focusing on refinancings, leaning into necessity-based assets like multifamily and industrial, and underwriting with more scrutiny than ever before.

Jean-Francis Dusch is the Global Head of Infrastructure at Edmond de Rothschild, while Josh Obler is an Investment Partner at Palistar Capital, specializing in digital infrastructure. They delve into how AI is revolutionizing data centers, which are becoming hot investment spots. They also discuss the booming fiber market and explain why towers offer great investment returns. The conversation highlights investment strategies, the demand for talent, and how energy needs are evolving with digital infrastructure.

Finance leadership is changing rapidly. So how are leaders adapting to these changes and redefining traditional finance roles to enhance operational efficiency? In this episode, we conclude our three-part New Faces of Finance miniseries by talking to three 2025 honorees about the changes they are making at their respective firms. Joining us are Dorothy Walter, partner and CFO at Alpine Investors; Pete Keenan, vice president of finance at 645 Ventures; and Jessica Shearer, partner at Proskauer Rose, who discuss what it takes to modernize traditional finance functions and how finance professionals are adapting to the demands of emerging technologies that are transforming the industry. The role of finance leaders is evolving in several ways and will continue to do so in the years to come. Keenan explores the evolution of finance roles, from a backward-looking reporting function into a more proactive data-driven decision-making engine, and stresses the role of keeping up with emerging technologies. Walter highlights her philosophy on building a team with a diverse skill set and hiring from non-traditional backgrounds. Shearer emphasizes the importance of actions individual leaders are taking at their respective firms. Additionally, all speakers discuss how to overcome challenges in scaling operations and how they’re future-proofing financial processes.