Last week Rory Blazeby travelled to LA to attend SuperReturn US West alongside over 200 private markets leaders from across the US and beyond. Over the course of the two-day event, panellists covered a varied and timely agenda, including the macroeconomic climate, fundraising trends and LP allocations as well as sports investing and the impact of AI.
Here Rory shares his key takeaways on the opportunities highlighted for fund managers and the industry as a whole to grow in what continues a challenging and competitive environment for fundraising and dealmaking:
The importance of standing out from the crowd: As investors continue seeking best-in-class managers with proven track records, there’s an increasing onus on mid-market managers differentiating themselves. Whether through providing access to deals with superior growth potential, playing to their strengths with a focus on niche strategies, or innovating on the operational side in order to streamline the investor experience in relation to reporting, data and onboarding, the imperative is clear: stand out or get lost in the crowd.
Getting to grips with democratisation: The democratisation of private markets beyond institutions continues to be a hot topic and one which fund managers are racing to get to grips with. Key questions include how best to gear up operationally, what the right minimum ticket size looks like and how it will impact operational costs. Retail and private wealth investors are using public markets experiences as a baseline for their expectations so delivering a hassle free ‘investor experience’ across the fund lifecycle needs to be front of mind.
Reimagining secondaries: Data from Evercore’s FY 2023 Secondary Market Survey shows transaction volume in the secondaries market reached $114bn, up from $103bn in 2022. Panellists highlighted the potential for continued growth in line with a shifting perception of secondaries which historically were seen as a means for LPs to exit private funds prematurely, often in distressed situations. Increasingly, secondaries transactions are regarded as a tool for GPs to manage their portfolios, take advantage of transactions/portfolios that have high growth potential and provide a longer lifespan on the investments. Alongside this GP led trend, secondaries continue to provide liquidity to investors in an otherwise illiquid market, allowing for a freer flow of capital across vehicles.
The changing role of people vs technology was a common thread that ran across the event. Our view is that technology will act as a catalyst and an enabler for the continued evolution of the industry, particularly in respect to these trends. Whilst technology paves the way for efficiency and scalability, the human touch remains crucial in helping investors to understand and navigate the complexities of the private markets. At IDR we’re changing the paradigm of private markets investing with a single authentication for investors across subscription, KYC and tax, in one platform with 24-hour support from an expert team. Explore our solutions to find out more.
