Sustainability reframed: Private markets’ journey from defensive to proactive sustainable investing

Regulatory shifts, operational demands and volatility have served to repeatedly derail the alignment of incentives between sustainable investing and the long-term value creation intrinsic to private markets. Over time, a clear dichotomy has emerged between what ESG teams within private markets want to achieve and what takes up most of their time. This report explores the current state of play, and the aspirations of ESG teams across asset classes. 

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Differentiated debt: Inside the competitive universe of private credit

In a busy marketplace, firms can differentiate themselves on two fronts – what they offer and how they operate. Whether its direct lending or distressed, traditional strategies or specialisms, or a modern-day operational infrastructure that pumps the deal funnel, enables frequent and accurate valuations and supports investment decisions – this report explores all-things differentiation in today’s private credit landscape.

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Third order: AI engines gather steam across PE portfolio companies

Most PE firms will now be deriving first order outcomes from AI in their portfolio companies – as basic automation creates sizeable operational efficiencies. The conversation has progressed to second- and third-order outcomes, creating smarter, more profitable operating models. With value creation firmly in the spotlight, this report explores the infinitely large and simultaneously minute AI-enabled transformation underway at portfolio companies.

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Ins and outs: The evergreen appeal of hybrid fund structures

Inherently complicated but increasingly necessary – bringing liquidity to an illiquid asset class is a puzzle presenting itself in most GP boardrooms. Hybrid fund structures come with complexities of liquidity management, valuations and regulations, while also catering to a broad and diverse pool of wealth and institutional clients. This report dives into how the world’s leading firms are building out their evergreen and semi-liquid offerings.

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LP Special: Understanding a new generation of private markets investors

June 2025 | Who invests in private markets? What was a stomping ground for mega institutions in conventional financial centres is now attracting capital from a broad spectrum of wealth brackets and geographies. But do they all have similar priorities? This report explores an ever-diversifying suite of investment needs – across access, returns, liquidity and operational sophistication, with a view on how allocators and managers can strike the balance between patience and flexibility.

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Disruptive forces: The digital imperative for private markets 

May 2025 | Pressure yields transformation, and in the past half-decade private markets have faced pressure in more form and frequency than perhaps ever before. Technology, with its great advances and capacity to build efficiencies – several line items at a time – is set to play a crucial role in shaping the industry’s future avatar. Presenting a cross-section of firm sizes and strategies, this report explores the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of digital transformation in private markets. 

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High alert: Private markets’ operational response to volatility

RAPID READ | Long viewed as a haven amid volatility, private markets are taking on a new, nimbler character in response to what have been repeated and sustained market shocks. But diversification and opportunism both bring complexity and the industry, is perhaps operationally ill-equipped to steer the ship more briskly through choppier waters. Read how firms are adapting their operations to contend with more complex fund and entity management.

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On the radar: Data takes centre stage in private markets

March 2025 | Gone are the days when private markets housed low volumes of slow, bespoke investments, playing out over long holding periods. The market has evolved, and parallels are being drawn with public markets – the two investment paradigms are converging in their approach to, and use of, the most valuable commodity of the 21st century – data. This report paints the big picture on data in private markets, combined with granular insights on streamlining, systems, implementation and adoption.

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Secondaries in 2025: Insights for private equity leaders

March 2025 | An increasingly sophisticated secondary market will always have a place in the investment landscape – whether to tap into liquidity or rebalance portfolios. For managers, the challenge is to ensure they have a steady flow of capital and an optimised operational structure to work with. This report dives into how both those objectives can be achieved – touching on education, regulation, tokenisation, data management and AI, among other themes. 

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Portals to Growth: LPs seek a digitalized, single source of truth for rapidly expanding portfolios

February 2025 | Having put steady faith in the buyout market for years, spurred on by an environment of cheap debt and booming valuations, investors have been pushed to diversify their alternative exposures recently. And as they diversify, the need for an digitalised experience has become paramount – to track their portfolios’ performance and risk at their fingertips. This report dives deeper into these trends.

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Private Equity Wire Global Outlook 2025

January 2025 | Could 2025 be a year of exits? Many anticipate so, as the M&A machinery eases back into action. A record-breaking secondary market is also greasing the deal wheels. Still, as we anticipate a healthier deal landscape, challenges of the past few years have left their legacy. Here are some of the biggest names in PE, generously giving us their view on where we are, and what we stand to gain in 2025.

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Stories of transformation: How private markets are changing the world

December 2024 | Private markets are changing the world. This report tells a range of stories: from sustainable olive oil production to the improvement of critical infrastructure; from driving financial inclusion in key markets to building more efficient water management systems; and many more – including e-mobility, power grids, quick-service food and entertainment operations, among others.

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The secondary market: Navigating growth and complexity

November 2024 | The PE secondary market is breaking records, raising two key questions: How long will favourable market conditions last? And are fund managers equipped for the complexity that comes with this growth? This report digs deeper into both these questions, featuring contributions from top-tier secondary GPs and LPs.

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The competitive edge: Technology & private markets

November 2024 | A major driver of operational challenges in private markets has been increased complexity in investment portfolios – our research reveals that fund managers are focused on the diversification of assets and on expanding their retail investor base. Firms that meet the operational demands of diversification will be in a stronger position to drive growth. In this report, learn how innovative technology is fast becoming a competitive advantage in the private markets.

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Durable risk management: How private markets are navigating new risk landscapes

November 2024 | In the past two years, private markets firms have addressed fundraising challenges by diversifying their investor base, built more flexibility into fund structures, and pivoted towards high-opportunity asset classes such as credit and secondaries. This report, produced in partnership by Private Equity Wire and Validus Risk Management, explores the new suite of risk considerations that has emerged with each of these forward-looking shifts.

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