I recently returned from a PE-centric conference in Orlando.
I'm less involved in PE day-to-day, so I'd expected it to be a 3-day infomercial on the relative merits of PE.
Surprisingly not. Surprisingly bearish (for an asset class that needs positivity).
Some memorable quotes (deliberately non-attributed, but from some of the leading market participants):
1) PE needs to get back to basics: buy well, manage well, sell well - manage alpha throughout. It's become a momentum trade of piling into anything with cheap debt.
2) Denominator effect hasn't been a recent problem. Imagine what happens to PE % and future deployment when markets correct.
3) A number of GPs won't admit it, but they've already raised their last Fund. Poor asset management discipline won't produce returns, and clients won't return. Manager dispersion will be wide.
4) Since when did a PE conference become all about AI? Focus on businesses with moats, less cyclical earnings, more picks & shovels - less likely to be disrupted by AI. ... and good luck to those in B2B SaaS!
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Rajiv Subhas Gohil
Global Head of Distribution
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