Analysis

ESG, retail investors and you

The latest Efama conference brought together regulators and asset managers who championed the idea for product instead of fund labels and brainstormed ideas for retailisation

Trigger warning

As valuations come under greater scrutiny, GPs must carefully consider the triggers for valuation challenges under the terms of their NAV facilities

SDR policy launched

The FCA is introducing an anti-greenwashing rule, four product labels and marketing requirements for investment funds

Moving surety from obscurity

Surety could be an overlooked, low cost liquidity solution in a time of portfolio optimisation

Home game Sweden

A change in tax legislation and ethical considerations are leading Swedish PE firms to onshore their funds

Budget breakdown

The Drawdown watched the UK Budget statement so you didn’t have to

Southern Europe: Structures to suit all tastes

Variety is indeed the spice of life when it comes to fund 
domiciles across Southern Europe

Cayman Islands removed from FATF’s grey list

Effective prosecution of financial crimes was key element to de-list but domicile stays on EU’s AML blacklist

Crossbreed funds

How PE is shedding its ‘illiquid’ skin and creating hybrid funds to access the private wealth market

What the AI?!... Schroders Capital

Head of global venture investments Steven Yang delves into the machine learning toolset that the firm’s data team has developed during the last decade

There and back again

Matthias Plötz reports on the success or otherwise of German GPs´ Luxembourg holidays

Firm identity

A tight fundraising environment and ESG fund naming conventions warrant a closer look at the names of private equity entities, writes Matthias Plötz

Stake a chance on… Kudu Investment Management

The firm provides permanent capital to boutique investment firms

Unrealised potential

The ILP has not yet led to a surge in funds being domiciled in Ireland, writes Jon Whiteaker

AIFM-Done

As the EU concludes technical discussions around the AIFMD review, The Drawdown takes stock

Abris Capital launches DEI code for portfolio

Firm makes commitments across education, governance, ownership and process with the aim of influencing industry practice

Must NAVs

The benefits and risks of NAV financing in a liquidity drought

Island appeal

The Channel Islands have established strong reputations 
as domiciles and intend to keep them

The digital CFO

While most CFOs would protest at the idea of their entire role being outsourced, an example of a plug-in CFO service is the upcoming launch of Corvus Group. Is it time to outsource the CFO entirely?

Wheels in motion

The UK is working hard to restore its attractiveness as a domicile post-Brexit but it’s not there yet

What the AI?!... Triton Partners

Head of technology Lyndon Arnold updates us on the firm’s outlook on AI and its potential use cases, as well as its ongoing implementation of the technology.

Breaking the mould

Does Luxembourg deserve its position as the default domicile in Europe or should GPs be more willing to consider alternative jurisdictions?

Stake a chance on… Bonaccord Capital

The firm’s GP stake strategy focuses on capital formation and ‘creating an enduring institution’

Edi Truell’s super plan

Pensions mogul outlines his next DC market consolidation plan after the ‘mothballing’ of Pension SuperFund

weather eye

Matthias Plötz asks: Will the distant winds of the SEC's Private Funds Rules force changes to European GPs' playbooks

Rubbish in, rubbish out?

The latest SFDR consultation gets the industry thinking about improving entity-level disclosures

FCA lays out priorities for asset management regime

Regulator´s chair discusses AIFMD´s future in UK regulatory regime and highlights proportionality as guiding principle

(De)generative AI

As AI technology develops, so do the associated risks

Avocado toast and carry

An open ear for the next generation’s concerns and demonstrating how PE can address them could be the key to answering the talent question

What the AI?!... PAI Partners

Marc Boullier, managing director and lead for IT and digital transformation, talks all things Alfred, the firm's own LLM-powered assistant

The roots of diversity

A diverse hiring process should focus on removing unconscious bias at the roots of your business rather than just getting the optics right

DORA the implementer

Following ESA’s public consultation, The Drawdown takes a closer look at the impending regulatory technical standards

New tools needed?

CFOs in the European midmarket worry about talent retention and whether their management strategies will be enough to nurture the leaders of tomorrow, writes Jon Whiteaker

What the AI?!... Montagu

Partner Daniel Fischer believes there are AI opportunities to be developed in risk management workflows

Red flags

At what point does a potential
investor become a reputational risk?

What the AI?!... NGP Capital

VP of data analytics Atte Honkasalo and partner Christian Noske discuss how NGP’s internal startup search platform is shaking up operational workflows

DIY in the wild wild East

Across Lebanon and Palestine, enterprising GPs are piloting their industry with no legislative framework or operational ecosystem, as Matthias Plötz investigates

Dancing to the same tune?

With GP stake investors increasingly eyeing the European mid-market, GPs must ensure they are in sync with their new partners.

What the AI?!...Equipped.ai

CEO of Equipped.ai Ed Green shares how the firm is making operations smoother with automation

Govern up

Shaking off reputation by association can be tough in emerging markets

Taking the plunge

The vast pools of capital located in the UAE remain the main draw for private equity firms but a local office is increasingly needed to access them

What’s in a name?

European Commission’s Retail Investment Strategy to further amend AIFMD and do away with ‘undue costs’, broaden definition of professional investor and ban inducements

Sounds of the summit… Tech spec

A post-summit debrief sees BGF’s Alastair Pilgrim and Federated Hermes’ Matt Guy discuss developing tech stacks

Sounds of the Summit… ODD one out

As fundraising gets tougher, ODD processes are getting longer and more demanding. However, according to speakers at the Operational Leaders’ Summit, there could be some bright spots amidst the gloom.

For FX’s sake! How not to manage FX

As heightened volatility continues to push FX up the agenda for private capital funds, we explore some of the common pitfalls managers have been facing.

The great rebundling

UK signals plans to reinstate research payment bundling, diverging from MiFID II

Sounds of the summit… Carry a torch for ESG?

Many GPs have talked about linking carried interest to ESG metrics but are any of them actually doing it?

Pen to pension

How DC pension master trusts are looking to tap into PE

Lux the builder

How have the Luxembourg toolkit updates affected the funds industry?

Around the books in 80 days

GPs' travels through the auditing process

‘GPs are becoming more creative’

Following his move from Travers Smith to Dechert, we caught up with fund formation veteran Sam Kay to get his take on the current market

Sounds of the summit… Asset managers assemble

Discussions from OLS concluded that the time to create a ChatGPT policy was yesterday. Here’s why your firm needs one too

Goldman Sachs launches ELTIF

We speak to Barry Fricke, head of EMEA alternatives distribution for wealth at the firm, to understand the operational setup of the fund

Regulators continue to woo retail investors in PE

As France proposes to remove further ELTIF restrictions, the FCA issues a policy statement opening up LTAF to retail and DC pensions schemes investors

What the AI?!... Amadeus Capital Partners

We speak to Amelia Armour, partner in the early-stage fund, to understand AI’s strengths and limitations in applications at VC funds

Shiny happy people

In conversation with Investindustrial’s head of talent, Cordelia Dolan, we discuss the art of driving value creation through human capital

Sounds of the summit… cyber house rules

Cybersecurity is an underrated risk in private equity, according to discussions at The Drawdown’s Operational Leaders’ Summit

Unpacking the EU Commission’s sustainable finance package

Concerns about complexity remain as bloc aligns legislation on sustainable investments and looks to regulate ESG ratings providers

What the AI?! Robin AI

James Clough, CTO and co-founder of Robin AI, shares how legal and AI expertise are combined in its LLM-powered chatbot

The qualifying factor

To what extent is the QAHC regime benefiting the UK alternative funds industry?