This episode is sponsored by Nuveen and Igneo Infrastructure Partners

With the American electorate recently handing the White House back to Donald Trump, it seems like an opportune time to unpack what it could all mean for the infrastructure asset class – in particular, the US commitment to renewables and the energy transition. Trump is, after all, the man who previously removed the world’s largest economy from the Paris Climate Accord and has since sounded less than supportive of President Biden’s initiatives to stimulate the economy and create jobs through a series of infra-led federal legislation.

So, is the Inflation Reduction Act in danger of being repealed? Does global capital have cause to be jittery? Or is the case for renewables infrastructure now simply too strong for even a sceptical Trump-led administration to deny.

Helping us to address these questions and concerns are John Ma, a partner and co-head of Igneo Infrastructure Partners’ North America team, and Don Dimitrievich, the senior managing director and portfolio manager for energy infrastructure credit at Nuveen.

Please enjoy this crossover episode from Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts podcast, which recently moved to its own channel. To continue getting new episodes, subscribe at secondariesinvestor.com/podcast or search for Secondaries Investor's Second Thoughts wherever you like to listen.

It's common to peel back the onion on key events and trends seen across financial markets. As the secondaries market heads for what is predicted to be a record-setting year for volume, we decided to practice the phrase quite literally.

Madeleine Farman, senior reporter and host of the Second Thoughts, and senior editor Adam Le are joined by Carlo Pirzio-Biroli, head of CVC Secondary Partners, and Ted Cardos, co-head of Kirkland & Ellis's European liquidity solutions team, with the group letting a basket of onions decide the talking points.

Pirzio-Biroli and Cardos discuss key wins, disappointments and developments over the course of 2024 and what the next 12 months could bring for the secondaries market.

This episode is sponsored by Sculptor Capital Management

The last 24 months have been a period of uncertainty and volatility in credit markets, with rising inflation and higher interest rates putting borrower capital structures under pressure and making it difficult for lenders to price risk.

These headwinds have proven challenging for mainstream lenders. But for opportunistic credit investors, it has provided a window to unlock attractive risk-adjusted returns in situations that are obscured by complexity.

In this episode, we sit down with Jimmy Levin, the chief investment officer of Sculptor Capital, a global alternative investment manager with more than $20 billion of credit assets under management across corporate, asset based and real estate credit. He discusses the opportunistic credit investment opportunity set, reflects on how it’s reshaping old thinking about the credit default cycle, and explores other strategies – notably, asset based finance – that benefit opportunistic lenders who can operate free of constraints.

Private markets are becoming more accessible to non-institutional investors, as the rise in semi-liquid vehicles this year demonstrates. At the same time, the industry is facing certain potential headwinds or tailwinds, depending on which region you're based in, as law firm Dechert's 2025 Global Private Equity Outlook survey has found.

In this episode, partners Sabina Comis and Chris Field sit down with Private Equity International senior editor Adam Le to discuss the results of the law firm's latest survey, which examines these issues and more.

In this podcast, Comis and Field also discuss:

For more private markets insights, check out privateequityinternational.com

Australian superannuation fund Aware Super opened its first overseas office in London last year and has wasted little time deploying capital. The fund, which manages A$170 billion ($110 billion; €105 billion) on behalf of predominantly nurses and teachers in Australia, quickly set on a plan to invest £5 billion ($6.3 billion; €6 billion) in the UK. It is almost halfway through that plan and most recently invested $370 million to acquire a stake in renewable energy group Octopus Energy.

In this episode, senior editor Adam Le sits down with Damien Webb, deputy chief investment officer and head of international, to discuss what the superfund looks for when it backs emerging managers (spoiler alert: it's more than just track record).

Webb also discusses how the fund invests in both funds and directs, its outlook on UK investments and how it plans to deploy more capital into secondaries.

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In the sixth and final episode of this season, we delve into how best to begin creating value using AI and other cutting-edge technology. It's no surprise that picking the right priorities is key, but so is staffing and senior management buy-in. With so many service providers, systems and apps in the market making so many promises, it's hard to imagine where to begin the process. While every GP and every portfolio company has unique needs and challenges, we offer the first principles that should guide listeners, no matter the size or strategy of the firm.

Guests include Matt Katz, global head of data science at Blackstone; Chris Satchell, managing director of tech and digital at Clayton, Dubilier and Rice; Raj Kushwaha, co-head of value creation and chief digital officer at Warburg Pincus; Misha Logvinov, a managing director at MGX; Tim Kiely, operating principal at BayPine; Hoyoung Pak, global co-lead of the AI & Data Practice Group at AlixPartners; and Jason McDannold, Americas co-lead, Private Equity, at AlixPartners.

This episode is sponsored by Scientific Infra and Private Assets

Abhishek Gupta and Tim Whittaker from Scientific Infra and Private Assets discuss the growing demand within private markets for accurate and robust data. They explore solutions that can address these needs, ultimately providing the private markets with comprehensive, high-quality valuations and reliable benchmarks.

Female founders continue to be underrepresented and underfunded. Women only accounted for 13.2 percent of all startups in 2023, according to data from software company Carta. This was down from 15.1 percent in 2022. So, it is safe to say progress has been slow.

However, in private markets, there are positive signs that the number of women founding firms and raising capital is increasing, albeit it from a low base. According to Venture Capital Journal, funds in which at least half of the founding partners are women accounted for just over 3 percent of global venture fundraising in 2023, up from 1.9 percent the previous year.

We decided to delve into this further, looking at what can be done to ensure the number of female founders continues to increase.

Earlier this month, PEI Group revealed its annual Women of Influence in Private Markets list 2024, which this year celebrates 42 inspiring women working in alternatives. For the second episode in this two-part miniseries, we spoke to some of the women featured in the list – each of whom have built businesses from the ground up – to discuss the keys to their success.

This episode includes Courtney Russell McCrea, co-founder and managing partner at Recast Capital; Eva Shang, CEO and co-founder at Legalist; and Rayenne Chen, partner at EQT and a founding member of the EQT Exeter team. They offer advice to women looking to start their own business.

Catch the first episode of our Women of Influence podcast miniseries, which is all about mentoring, here.

This episode is sponsored by AlixPartners

The Disruption Matters special podcast miniseries is back for a third season, and this year, leading industry experts discuss how private markets can best use today’s technologies to create value.

In this fifth episode, we discuss tech's role in recruiting, onboarding and developing talent. Along the way, we address how best to recruit Gen Z, the limits of AI in this particular arena and how tech is changing the nature of talent management as a discipline. With tech tackling so many of the rudimentary tasks around talent management, human capital professionals will be freed up to focus on the more complicated tasks around motivation, evaluation and leadership. In short, tech may make some duties simpler, but the key challenges of managing people will still need to be addressed by humans.

Guests include Christopher P Trendler, managing director and head of portfolio talent at Madison Dearborn Partners; Nicole Jones, talent director, portfolio support group at Advent International; John Sander, principal, portfolio solutions at Lightyear Capital; and Ted Bililies, the global leader of transformative leadership at AlixPartners.

Women are still underrepresented across private markets, while reaching senior positions remains particularly challenging. In light of this, we decided to take a deep dive into how mentoring can serve as a tool for success and empower women working in the industry.

Last week, PEI Group revealed its annual Women of Influence in Private Markets list 2024, which this year celebrates 42 inspiring women working in alternatives. For the first episode in this two-part miniseries, we spoke to some of the women featured in the list to discuss the keys to mentoring success.

In this episode, Patricia Miller Zollar, a managing director at Neuberger Berman; Rosalind Smith-Maxwell, a director at Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners; and Jackie Rantanen, head of investor solutions at Hamilton Lane, discuss their personal mentoring experiences and explore how well the industry is doing in supporting up and coming talent.

Read more about this year’s Women of Influence in Private Markets list here.