Democratisation

An increasingly varied dealmaking environment means lenders are working harder than ever to attract LP interest.

Appetite for private debt funds continues to grow but managers cannot rest on their laurels as LP demands change fast.

The firm’s AlpInvest secondaries unit and private wealth help power its growth in AUM, while its private equity business shrank.

The fund is the manager’s first BDC, and comes nearly two months after acquisition by Rithm was announced

There is now proof of concept that institutional and retail products can successfully be managed side by side, say Davis Polk’s Andrew Ahern, Oran Ebel, Christopher Healey and Leor Landa.

With the retailisation of alternatives set to transform the industry, building brand awareness with individual investors has become a priority for managers.

Private markets’ enthusiasm for the retail space is no fleeting trend, according to data from recent industry studies.

Opening up alternative assets to non-institutional investors, from HNWIs to 401(k) account holders, represents up to $80trn. It’s an alluring pot of capital for an industry with flatlining annual fundraising figures in some asset classes. And yet, multiple headwinds exist, making the journey towards increasing democratisation far from straightforward.

Further technology advances are required to truly unlock the potential of the private wealth market.

The private debt market does not want spreads of less than 500bps to become standard, delegates at the PDI DACH Forum in Munich heard.