Fund Shack Private Equity Podcast

Ross Butler speaks with David Nowak, President of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group. David leads Brookfield’s North American private equity business and its evergreen strategy. He brings a contrarian, operations-led viewpoint shaped by more than a decade working across one of the world’s most integrated alternative-investment platforms.We explore how Brookfield focuses on essential-service businesses that are misunderstood, how it leverages information advantages drawn from its global infrastructure, real estate, renewables and energy-transition platforms, and why its dual-sponsorship model between investors and operators produces repeatable value creation across market cycles.Brookfield’s approach is not thematic. Instead, it targets situations where perceived risk diverges from actual risk. David discusses the Westinghouse acquisition as an example: nuclear power was deeply out of favour, yet Brookfield’s renewables team demonstrated it remained indispensable to regional power grids. Operational work then doubled EBITDA. A similar framework guided the acquisition of Clarios, where market consensus around electric vehicles failed to reflect realistic adoption rates and operational improvement opportunities.A large part of Brookfield’s private equity model centres on operations. Around 35 senior operators sit directly inside the investment floor, and every deal is jointly owned by an investor and an operator from diligence through exit. Over half of Brookfield’s private equity returns have come from operational improvement, not leverage. Investment professionals also spend a year inside a portfolio company before promotion, building practical judgement that informs decision-making back at headquarters.David also unpacks Brookfield’s exit discipline, the benefits of long-dated and permanent capital, and why resilient, essential-service companies tend to attract strategic buyers regardless of market cycles. Finally, he discusses culture, humility and career progression, offering grounded advice for young professionals entering private markets.Key themesContrarian investing and misunderstood essential-service businessesInformation advantage across Brookfield’s multi-platform global footprintThe pilot / co-pilot model between investors and operatorsOperational value creation and secondments into portfolio companiesEBITDA improvement through pricing, supply-chain and organisational workEvergreen capital, strategic exits and long-hold flexibilityCulture, apprenticeship and career development in private equity🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹💼 Learn more at: 🌐 www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industryDavid Nowak: https://www.brookfield.com/about-us/leadership/david-nowakBrookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services. Ross Butler: Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.comCONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian#investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Fund Shack is the private capital podcast with in-depth conversations with investors, founders, and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets. Its were Private Markets meets private Wealth. 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹00:00 Why Brookfield avoids thematic investing01:00 Evolution of Brookfield’s PE strategy03:00 Essential-services focus; 06:00 Dual-sponsorship model09:00 Integrated open-floor culture12:00 Westinghouse case15:00 Operational EBITDA gains18:00 Investor secondments20:00 Clarios and EV cycles24:00 PE in higher rates28:00 Strategic exits31:00 Alignment and pricing discipline33:00 Culture and apprenticeship35:00 Career guidance38:00 Closing reflections

Anthropologist and best-selling author Jack Weatherford, whose Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World redefined how we view empire and innovation, joins Ross Butler to explore how the Mongol world prefigured today’s private equity model.When the Mongols swept across Eurasia in the thirteenth century, they destroyed old orders, but they also built new ones. In this conversation, Jack Weatherford explains how Genghis Khan combined conquest with institution-building, creating a meritocratic system that elevated productivity and aligned incentives in a way that modern investors would recognise.We discuss how Mongol queens managed ortōq enterprises, private trading ventures that resemble early forms of private equity, how religious freedom became the first international law, and how the empire’s census, taxation and communication systems created transparency across continents.As the empire matured, Kublai Khan’s experiments with paper money, movable type and naval technology expanded global trade and spread ideas that helped ignite the European Renaissance. The discussion links thirteenth-century portfolio thinking to today’s private markets, showing why creative destruction only endures when creation wins.0:00 Creative destruction and leadership1:26 Learning loops, humility and meritocracy3:56 Parallels with private equity ownership10:22 Building value through safety and trade15:02 Census, taxation and the power of numbers16:21 Queens as capital allocators – the ortōq system19:19 Religious freedom as economic policy26:59 A family-office view of the known world31:49 Kublai Khan’s operating model37:36 Paper money and the limits of fiat45:02 Global trade and early financial flows46:05 Europe’s asymmetric gains from knowledge transfer52:13 Technology recombination in warfare58:12 Naval trebuchets and siege innovation1:01:27 Horse economies and resilience1:05:22 Genghis Khan’s Western intellectual legacy1:08:16 Enduring principles for modern investorsJack Weatherford is an anthropologist, historian and author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World and The History of Money. His work explores how ideas, trade and governance evolved across civilisations and how they continue to shape modern institutions.📘 Read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644private equity, private markets, Fund Shack, Ross Butler, Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan, creative destruction, history of finance, financial history, ortōq, family office, meritocracy, value creation, governance, institutional investing, long-term capital, wealth management, portfolio construction, alternative investments, anthropology of markets, economic history, private equity podcast, private markets podcast🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Ross ButlerFounder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.comCONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Fund Shack is the private equity podcast with in-depth conversations with investors, founders, and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets.🔗 More episodes www.fund-shack.com 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/

Ross Butler speaks with Matteo Stefanel and Udayan (“Uday”) Goyal, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Apis Partners, one of the world’s leading growth-equity investors in financial technology.Founded in 2014, Apis Partners has built a global fintech franchise by applying M&A discipline to private equity: identify the likely acquirers first, then build the company to fit their strategic blueprint. In this conversation, Matteo and Uday explain how they turned two decades of deal-making experience, from DLJ and Deutsche Bank to advising on Visa, Mastercard, and Worldpay into one of the most distinctive investment models in growth capital.They discuss:How Apis built credibility as a first-time fund manager, raising $290m at launch and scaling to a multi-fund global platform.The importance of the network as an asset, relationships forged over 20 years now drive sourcing, diligence, talent, and exits.“Exit-first” investing, designing portfolio companies around known strategic buyers and building to a defined market demand.Why 2025 marks the most disruptive moment in financial services history, as stablecoins, micropayments, and decentralised rails reshape how money moves.The rise of agentic AI, where your personal financial assistant will soon negotiate directly with your bank’s AI.Embedded finance and the subscription economy, from iPhones to autos, where distribution and customer ownership, not balance sheet, define value.The democratisation of wealth, as technology opens private-market access to a broader investor base while raising new questions about fairness, data, and risk.“Finance will be invisible, stitched into every product, every experience.”This is a forward-looking discussion about what comes after banking, where technology, capital, and human behaviour converge to redefine how financial systems work and who benefits from them.🎧 Watch the full conversation at www.fund-shack.com Follow Fund Shack on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts for more conversations with the people shaping private markets and the future of finance.🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Thank you to our episode partnerBrookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services.For more information, visit: www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹💼 Learn more at: 🌐 www.apis.pe🎙️Matteo Stefanel Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Apis PartnersLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteostefanel/🎙️Udayan GoyalManaging Partner & Co-Founder, Apis PartnersLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ugoyal/Ross ButlerFounder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.comCONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book Invest Like a Barbarianhttp://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹00:00 Fintech revolution begins, Apis Partners ranked global #201:45 Meet Apis Partners, fintech growth investors Matteo Stefanel & Udayan Goyal03:06 From Wall Street to growth capital, building a fintech platform05:01 Relationships as alpha networks turned into exits07:56 Exit-first model designing for strategic buyers11:24 Value creation buy-and-build and customer access16:21 Partnering with founders, trust and alignment18:20 Stablecoins & 24-hour liquidity, treasury reinvented23:54 Micropayments & continuous finance, real-time money flow27:27 Agentic AI, automation reshaping financial services31:15 Embedded finance & subscriptions, banking disappears36:52 Who owns the customer, brands vs banks42:46 Finance as social engine,from UBI to capital ownership47:00 Democratising wealth, opening private-market access50:20 Bitcoin vs stablecoins, new financial infrastructure54:28 the future of finance

Brookfield is renowned for running the companies it owns, not just financing them. In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Adrian Letts, Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Head of Business Operations, to explore how the firm’s operator-led model drives value creation from origination through exit. Adrian explains how Brookfield embeds operators alongside investors, with shared carry, shared accountability, and a shared mandate to transform portfolio companies. He discusses organisational design as a true value lever, why smaller and senior operating teams outperform larger ones, and how AI and digital tools are reshaping performance management and working-capital efficiency across the Brookfield ecosystem.From aligning incentives and structuring teams to deploying data and AI in real assets, this is a masterclass in how private equity really creates value.#PrivateEquity #Brookfield #ValueCreation #FundShack #AdrianLetts #PrivateMarkets #OperationalExcellence #AI #AlternativeInvestments #Leadership

Private markets are no longer on the sidelines. With listed companies shrinking and private companies multiplying, alternatives are becoming a core component of diversified portfolios.In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with William Benjamin, Head of Alternative Solutions at HSBC Asset Management, about how alternatives are evolving and why investors haven’t “missed the boat” in the 2020s.Benjamin discusses:Why private equity, credit, infrastructure, and venture capital are central to HSBC’s $75bn alternatives platformThe growth of evergreen fund structures and what investors should look for in managersThe challenges and opportunities of democratizing access to private marketsHow HSBC leverages its global footprint to source opportunities beyond New York and LondonThe cultural and career dynamics of talent in alternativesThis conversation explores how one of the world’s largest financial institutions is positioning itself in alternatives, and why Benjamin believes the next phase of growth will be defined not just by institutions, but by the increasing participation of high-net-worth investors.🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹👉 Subscribe to Fund Shack for more in-depth conversations on private markets and the future of investment.🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹💼 Learn more at: HSBC Asset Management 🌐 www.assetmanagement.hsbc.co.uk William Benjamin, Head of Alternative Solutions at HSBC Asset Management🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/w-benjamin/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack🌐 www.fund-shack.comCONNECT on Linkedinwww.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 00:00 – Introduction: William Benjamin, HSBC Asset Management01:03 – Why alternatives are becoming mainstream02:13 – Haven’t investors missed the boat?03:49 – Diversification and resilient portfolios04:36 – Democratization of private markets05:00 – Evergreen funds: what investors should know06:22 – Private equity & HSBC’s global sourcing edge09:46 – Private credit: diversification and risk management13:43 – Infrastructure, venture capital & new opportunities16:24 – $75bn in alternatives: HSBC’s growth outlook19:53 – Talent, culture & career advice in alternatives23:12 – Data, digital platforms & evergreen structures28:12 – The five-year outlook for private markets🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹#PrivateEquity#PrivateMarkets#AlternativeInvestments#FundShack#HSBCAssetManagement#EvergreenFunds#PrivateCredit#InfrastructureInvesting#VentureCapital#PortfolioDiversification#WealthManagement#InstitutionalInvestors#HNWInvesting#AssetManagement#InvestmentStrategies

Alex van Someren has spent his career at the frontier of technology, venture capital, and national security. From joining Acorn Computers as a teenager, the company that seeded ARM Holdings, to co-founding cryptography firm nCipher, becoming a partner at Amadeus Capital Partners, and later serving as the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security, his career offers unique insight into how capital and innovation shape geopolitics.In this episode, Alex explains how the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSIF) mirrors DARPA-backed venture in the US, why government must learn to take risk to access frontier technology, and the realities of venture capital returns. He discusses the hype and risks around artificial intelligence, the disruptive potential of quantum computing, the fragility of semiconductor supply chains, and the ESG debate around nuclear energy and small modular reactors.For investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, this conversation maps the crucial intersection of capital, technology, and defence in a changing global order.🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Thank you to our episode partnerBrookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services.For more information, visit:www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹👉 Subscribe to Fund Shack for more in-depth conversations on private markets and the future of investment.🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹💼 Learn more at: Paladin Capital Group🌐 www.paladincapgroup.comAlex van Someren www.paladincapgroup.com/people/alex-van-someren/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.comCONNECT on Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹Alex van Someren, Fund Shack, Venture Capital, Private Equity, National Security, Defence Technology, Dual-use Technology, Cryptography, nCipher, Amadeus Capital Partners, Acorn Computers, ARM Holdings, National Security Strategic Investment Fund, NSIF, DARPA, Government Venture Capital, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, Quantum Computing, Post-Quantum Cryptography, National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, Semiconductor Supply Chain, CHIPS Act, National Semiconductor Strategy, Space Technology, Satellites, ESG, Nuclear Energy, Small Modular Reactors, Fusion Energy, Private Markets, Technology Innovation, Geopolitics, UK Venture Capital, Silicon Valley, Defence Spending, NATO, Paladin Capital, Calypso AI, Emerging Technologies, Risk and Innovation, Venture Returns0:00 – Introduction 0:40 – From teenage coder to Acorn Computers and ARM Holdings 2:33 – Leaving school at 17: self-taught entrepreneur 3:26 – Building nCipher and cryptography’s real-world applications 5:27 – Dual use: civilian vs. national security technology 7:21 – The hidden history of venture capital and DARPA 8:58 – The UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSIF) 10:42 – Risk, government spending, and culture clash with VC 15:53 – “If you aren’t losing at least half your money…” 20:08 – The US CHIPS Act and Europe’s semiconductor challenge 29:23 – Venture capital’s boom in defence spending 36:18 – AI is over-hyped, over-used, and makes us stupid 40:30 – Defending the corporate AI stack (Paladin & Calypso) 44:00 – Quantum computing: encryption at risk 47:38 – Why space is now accessible to schoolchildren 51:31 – ESG and nuclear: small modular reactors, fusion, and energy policy 56:10 – Why making money in venture capital is so hard 59:05 – Closing reflections

🎧 Episode #74: Emerging Managers: What It Takes to Make ItGuests: Kim Pochon (Unigestion) & Joe Briggs (BCF )Series Launch: Fund Shack's Emerging Manager SeriesIn this launch episode of Fund Shack’s Emerging Manager Series, Ross Butler speaks with Kim Pochon, Global Head of Primary Investments at Unigestion, and Joe Briggs, Founder of BCF, to explore what it really takes to build a successful first-time private equity fund.With LP appetite growing for new franchises, this episode unpacks the strategic, structural, and psychological factors that separate enduring platforms from short-lived experiments.🧱 Why “Emerging” Doesn’t Mean InexperiencedMost “emerging managers” are seasoned investors; what’s new is their journey into firm-building. While GPs may dislike the label, it matters deeply to LPs allocating to this segment.💡 Early Access = Long-Term AdvantageBacking a first-time fund is about more than returns, it’s about gaining long-term partners. Kim Pochon shares how Unigestion’s early bets have evolved into deep collaborations across continuation vehicles, co-investments, and secondaries.🛠️ The Rise of Independent Sponsors and Hybrid FundsJoe Briggs outlines how deal-by-deal models, mini-funds, and short-duration strategies are allowing first-time managers to build track records and LP trust, without raising blind pool capital on Day 1.👥 Team Dynamics: The Critical Risk FactorStrategy is important, but people matter more. LPs scrutinise equity splits, decision-making processes, and team chemistry. Execution risk is often people risk.🔥 Why Founders Spin Out, and What Sets Them ApartFrom high-paid roles to high-risk launches, Joe and Kim explore what drives professionals to strike out on their own, and why the best emerging managers have a clear purpose and strong conviction.📈 “Know Why You Deserve to Exist”As Briggs puts it, emerging GPs must clearly articulate why their platform should exist, what differentiates it, and how it delivers value to LPs from Day 1.🔗 Fund Shack is an independent podcast serving the global private capital industry.✅ Share this episode with your network, it's the most valuable way to help us grow🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your preferred platform📄 Prefer to consume your podcast as a newsletter summary? 👉 fund-shack.substack.com🌐 Visit: www.fund-shack.com📧 Got a guest idea? Want to sponsor an episode? Email: katie@linearb.mediaFund Shack is produced by Linear B GroupTags emerging managers, first-time funds, private equity, GP spinout, fundless sponsor, Unigestion, BCF, private equity podcast, Fund Shack, Ross Butler, LP allocations, fundraising, private markets, private capital, institutional investors, evergreen funds, independent sponsor model, PE fund structure, LP/GP alignment, continuation vehicles

🎧 Episode #73: The Expanding Role of Private Markets in Wealth PortfoliosGuest: Kyle D. Kniffen, Goldman Sachs Asset ManagementIn this Fund Shack episode, recorded live at SuperReturn in Berlin, Ross Butler speaks with Kyle D. Kniffen, Managing Director and Global Head of Alternatives for Third Party Wealth at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. With over $500 billion in alternative assets under management, Goldman Sachs is at the forefront of delivering institutional-grade private markets strategies to the private wealth segment.Kniffen outlines how the shift from public to private markets is reshaping modern portfolios, and how Goldman Sachs is using open-architecture, multi-asset solutions to unlock access for high-net-worth investors.The number of public companies has declined. Innovation now happens in private markets. For wealth managers, private equity, private credit, and real assets are becoming core exposures, not niche allocations.Goldman Sachs is responding with evergreen structures, simplified tax reporting, and lower minimums, but also stresses the need for investor education and clarity around liquidity expectations.Institutions typically allocate 20–30% to alternatives; individual investors? Just 5%. Goldman Sachs is investing heavily in curriculum-style education for wealth advisers and clients, covering everything from "what are alternatives?" to live updates on market trends.Delivery channels include:Custom sessionsSpecialist teamsOngoing reportingKniffen discusses the trade-offs between drawdown funds and evergreen formats, especially in private credit.Evergreen vehicles offer:✔️ Simpler onboarding✔️ Optional liquidity✔️ Operational easeBut also require:- Strong duration management- Secondary market integration- Disciplined product structuringGoldman applies the same innovative lens to private equity, infrastructure, and real asset, blending directs and secondaries to reduce duration risk while preserving alpha.Diversification is key, but so is alignment. Goldman invests its own balance sheet and employee capital alongside clients. Transparency, robust reporting, and post-sale service are core to the client experience.For most wealth clients, alternatives remain a new frontier. This creates enormous opportunity for firms that combine performance with education, care, and long-term partnership. Goldman Sachs is positioning itself as a trusted guide for wealth managers navigating this complexity.Thank you to our episode partner, Edelman Smithfield, a specialist PR and communications consultancy for the financial markets. Their expertise in private capital spans fundraising, strategic positioning, portfolio communications, and reputation management.🔗 Learn more: edelmansmithfield.com📤 Share this episode with your network, Follow & Subscribe it's the most valuable way to support our growth. www.fund-shack.com 🕰️No time for the full episode: Read a summary on Substack which contains links to the best clips and quotes. https://substack.com/@privateequityfundshack📧 Sponsor or guest idea? Email katie@linearb.mediaFund Shack is an independent media platform delivering deep-dive insights into private capital and produced by Linear B Group.

Episode #72: Bitcoin - The Alternative You Can No Longer IgnoreGuest: Matthew Hougan, Chief Investment Officer, Bitwise Asset ManagementBitcoin has evolved from a retail phenomenon to a macro asset that institutions can no longer afford to ignore. In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with Matthew Hougan, CIO at Bitwise Asset Management, the firm behind the first crypto index fund and over $10B in assets.A pioneer of ETFs and now a leader in crypto investing, Matthew explains why Bitcoin is becoming a core component of modern portfolios, how it compares to gold, and why it's poised to reshape global finance.💼 From Retail to Institutional Adoption Bitcoin is no longer fringe. U.S. Bitcoin ETFs now manage $37B+, with institutional capital driving a third of inflows. Bitwise’s AUM has grown 10x in 18 months.📈 Portfolio Construction: Bitcoin as an Alternative Asset Allocators are rethinking Bitcoin’s place, not tech, not equity, but an alternative. With low correlation, high returns, and now ETF access, 1–2% allocations are improving portfolio Sharpe ratios.⚖️ Bitcoin vs. Gold... and Beyond Think of Bitcoin as programmable, portable, real-time gold. Its market cap is under $2T vs. gold’s $21T, highlighting significant upside for long-term believers in the “digital gold” thesis.🌐 Bitcoin as Neutral Global Collateral In a fragmenting geopolitical world, Bitcoin may serve as a non-political, global settlement asset, used across borders, free from government control.🧠 Finance on the Blockchain From instant loans to on-chain collateral, crypto markets offer faster, transparent alternatives to traditional finance. Hougan sees DeFi merging with TradFi, not replacing it, but upgrading it.🗣 Advice for Financial Professionals Matthew’s call to action: experiment, learn, and get ahead. Just as ETFs reshaped investing, Bitcoin could reshape finance. Start small. Learn fast. Stay relevant.-------------------------------------------- 📩  Matthew Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset ManagementWebsite: www.bitwiseinvestments.comTwitter: @Matt_HouganTelegram: @pemeticLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-hougan/📢 Subscribe for More Fund Shack Episodes and tap into the minds shaping private markets.🔗 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7159157815326949376 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrivateEquityPodcastFundShack?sub_confirmation=1 📞 Contact:  Fund Shack is a private equity podcast and digital media channel for alternative investment professionals 📧 katie@linearb.mediaChapters00:00 – Intro to Matt Hougan, Fund Shack & Bitcoin relevance01:00 – Why Bitcoin is the ultimate alternative asset02:00 – Institutions entering Bitcoin: Demand and momentum03:43 – Institutional case for Bitcoin: High returns, low correlations06:03 – The blockchain as digital property infrastructure07:00 – Bitcoin as finance’s inevitable disruption09:00 – Bitcoin vs banks: Infrastructure comparison11:04 – Bitcoin’s challenge to traditional valuation logic12:03 – How institutions are categorising Bitcoin13:17 – Why Bitcoin has value: Digital service logic14:21 – Bitcoin’s fair value and addressable market15:25 – Bitcoin as global settlement currency17:03 – State actors adopting Bitcoin18:09 – Bitcoin's correlation to other assets19:30 – Why institutions find Bitcoin compelling20:12 – Institutional access: How Bitwise ETFs work22:17 – ETF security, cold storage & custody24:00 – ETF mechanism under stress: Arbitrage & NAV26:03 – Future of Bitcoin and financialisation27:56 – Lending, collateral, and credit in a Bitcoin world29:34 – Bitcoin’s influence on dollar policy31:06 – How Bitcoin changes capital markets33:15 – Programmable money: A new finance model34:52 – Advice for traditional finance professionals35:59 – Deflationary risk: Lending in a bitcoinised system37:05 – Real value vs rent-seeking in future finance38:25 – Advice for young finance professionals

Episode #71: The Realities of Private Wealth in Private MarketsGuest: Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Julius BärWhat happens when private equity pivots from institutional capital to private wealth? In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Head of Private Market Strategy at Julius Bär & one of the most respected thinkers in private markets. Cyril blends academic rigour with industry expertise, drawing on his work with Invest Europe, ILPA, & the European Commission.Together, they explore the complex realities of opening private markets to individual investors, & why true democratisation may still be a long way off.🏢 From Institutions to Individuals As institutional funding slows, fund managers are turning to private wealth, but it's not a simple swap. Cyril unpacks why $5M+ investors still struggle to access private equity meaningfully, & how portfolio construction must adapt to this fragmented investor base.📊 Evergreen Funds & the Democratisation Myth Despite the buzz, evergreen vehicles still represent just 1–2% of AUM. Cyril explains why they are a tool, not a solution, & why true democratisation needs a more nuanced strategy.⏳ Private Markets Are Three-Dimensional Long holding periods, illiquidity, & delayed returns create a "time complexity" most investors (& advisers) underestimate. Cyril emphasises that private markets require patience, planning, & portfolio redesign.🔧 Fund Structures: Not One-Size-Fits-All Closed-end funds remain dominant, but evergreen & semi-liquid structures are gaining traction. Cyril foresees a future where fund structures are matched to investor objectives, not trends.📉 Fundraising, Dealmaking & Dry Powder While fundraising has slowed, especially in VC, buyout strategies remain active, with managers deploying capital via smaller, lower-leverage deals focused on operational value. Dry powder is declining—suggesting a more disciplined cycle ahead.💬 Rethinking Communication in Private Markets Cyril argues that better education & transparency are essential if private wealth is to participate meaningfully. The industry must do more to share value & demystify risk.📢 Subscribe for More Fund Shack Episodes!Tap into the minds shaping private markets. 🔗 LinkedIn 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple Podcasts 📺 YouTube 🎶 Amazon Music 📞 Contact: Fund Shack is a private equity podcast & digital media channel for alternative investment professionals, produced by Linear B Group. 📧 katie@linearb.media #PrivateEquity #PrivateWealth #PrivateMarkets #EvergreenFunds #FundStructures #JuliusBaer #CyrilDemaria #FundShack #HighNetWorth #FinancialEducation #AlternativeInvestments #PrivateCapital #JuliusBärChapters00:00 Intro 00:06 At Julius Baer, Cyril’s background & credentials00:50 The rise of private wealth & democratisation01:53 Why private wealth is hard to access03:09 How much capital is actually coming from private clients05:03 Capital limitations & structuring challenges06:15 Is the demand real or manufactured08:27 The “third dimension” of private markets: time10:09 Why traditional tools don't fit private markets11:10 Fund structures: evergreen vs closed-end13:16 Complementarity of structures & the evolving toolbox14:03 What allocation size makes private markets worthwhile16:10 Going beyond 15–20% in private portfolios17:20 Why democratisation is complex and multi-dimensional18:00 Dispersion of returns & the role of fund structures20:54 Shakespeare & the early roots of private markets21:01 Market conditions as of Q1 202524:43 The effect of tighter leverage & lower risk27:01 How much of PE returns are driven by leverage29:01 Advice for young professionals entering private markets30:54 Why staying close to the industry matters32:35 The need for broader skillsets in private equity34:46 Why the human factor still dominates deals35:06 Can private markets be made ‘cool’36:43 How sharing value could shift perceptions39:11 Communication & transparency