Fund Shack Private Equity Podcast

Private Capital in Brazil: Where Are the Best Opportunities?

Brazil offers one of Latin America’s deepest private capital markets, with opportunities across private equity, private credit, infrastructure, agriculture, critical minerals and distressed investing. Success requires local networks, thematic focus and a clear understanding of currency risk. Ross Butler speaks with Tim Chamberlain of Brunel Partners about why global investors remain underallocated to Latin America, where capital scarcity creates opportunity, and why private market structures may suit volatile economies. Why Brazil is often the best entry point into Latin America Agriculture, critical minerals and infrastructure Brazilian private credit and FIAGRO Distressed investing and complex capital structures Currency exposure and the cost of hedging Brazilian family offices, pension funds and precatórios Tim argues that the strongest investment cases are usually thematic rather than broad regional allocations. Brazil’s scale, legal framework and domestic capital markets create depth, while high interest rates and conservative bank lending can leave middle-market companies short of flexible finance. The discussion also examines currency risk at asset level. A Brazilian business may earn revenue from exports, commodities, dollar-linked contracts or inflation-linked concessions, so its economic exposure can differ from the currency in which a fund is denominated. Brazil may benefit from demand for data centres, renewable energy, agricultural production and critical resources. Private capital can provide patient finance, negotiated governance and specialist expertise where conventional markets remain limited. 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 #PrivateEquity #PrivateCapital #Brazil #LatinAmerica #PrivateCredit 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 About Tim Chamberlain Tim Chamberlain is based in São Paulo and works with Brunel Partners, a placement and advisory firm connecting Latin American managers, entrepreneurs and investment opportunities with global institutional capital. Tim began his career in Asia before joining Eurekahedge and opening its New York office. He moved to Brazil in 2010 and helped establish Brunel Partners in 2014. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn 🌐 Brunel Partners 📧 contact@brunel-partners.com.br 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 🔹 Host: Ross Butler is the founder and host of Fund Shack. He has worked around private capital for 25 years as a journalist, policy adviser and consultant, and is the author of Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the Spoils of a Private Markets Revolution. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn 🌐 Fund Shack 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution #investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Important informationThis conversation was recorded ahead of Brazil’s October 2026 presidential election. Political observations and market conditions reflect the position at the time of recording. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Interested in joining Fund Shack as a guest or exploring sponsorship opportunities? Contact Katie at Katie@linearB.media to discuss upcoming episodes, editorial themes and partnership options.

Private Equity in 2026: Why “12 is the new five” | Emilio Domingo, Bain & Company

Private equity is entering a tougher operating environment, where cheap debt and multiple expansion can no longer be relied on to deliver returns. In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with Emilio Domingo, Partner in Bain & Company’s London office and Chief Commercial Officer for Bain’s EMEA Private Equity practice, about Bain’s latest private equity outlook, the idea that “12 is the new five”, and what it means for GPs, LPs and portfolio company management teams. In this episode, we cover: 🔹Why Bain says “12 is the new five” for private equity 🔹Why average buyouts may now need much higher EBITDA growth to achieve similar returns 🔹Why margin expansion has contributed surprisingly little to private equity returns 🔹The “leaky bucket” problem of inflation, price erosion and supply chain shocks 🔹Why scale, specialisation and accumulated experience are becoming more important 🔹How private equity balances value creation playbooks with entrepreneurial management 🔹Bain’s view of full potential diligence 🔹Why speed matters in private equity transformation 🔹The rise of the Chief Transformation Officer 🔹How AI is changing investment teams, value creation teams and portfolio companies 🔹Whether AI will favour emerging managers or scaled private equity platforms 🔹Why private equity-backed companies may have an edge in AI adoption 🔹Bain’s outlook for private equity and the industry’s liquidity challenge Chapters: 00:00 Why “12 is the new five” changes private equity 02:46 The new EBITDA growth challenge for buyouts 04:34 Why margin expansion has been so difficult 07:26 Why scale and specialisation are becoming critical 09:44 Private Markets Capability sponsor message 10:39 Value creation, governance and entrepreneurial management 12:57 The art of building a world-class value creation plan 14:33 Why speed matters in private equity transformation 15:51 The rise of the Chief Transformation Officer 17:23 How AI is changing private equity investing 20:11 Will AI favour emerging managers or the largest firms? 22:23 Why private equity could become the AI winner 23:41 Bain’s outlook for the future of private equity 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Guest bio: Emilio Domingo is a Partner in Bain & Company’s London office and Chief Commercial Officer for Bain’s EMEA Private Equity practice. In this role, Emilio drives the commercial agenda for Bain’s regional private equity practice, helping the firm bring its capabilities, solutions and products to financial investor clients. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/emiliodomingo/ 🌐 https://www.bain.com/industry-expertise/private-equity/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Host: Ross Butler is the founder and host of Fund Shack. He has worked around private capital for 25 years as a journalist, policy adviser and consultant, and is the author of Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the Spoils of a Private Markets Revolution. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian #investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 About our sponsor: Private Markets Capability for Wealth Advisers Clients are increasingly asking not only whether they should invest in private markets, but how private equity and private credit fit within a portfolio, what the liquidity trade-offs are and what the underlying risks actually look like. The PMC-Q50 was developed to help advisers test their preparedness before those conversations take place. The free assessment takes around 25 minutes and produces a personalised private markets capability profile. It identifies where knowledge is strong, where it may need sharpening and which areas should be prioritised next. Take the PMC-Q50 assessment. https://pmc-q50.scoreapp.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

Beyond SpaceX: War, AI, Orbital Infrastructure and green utopia | Mark Boggett | Seraphim Space

Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack www.fund-shack.com Space is no longer just about rockets, satellites and astronauts. In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Mark Boggett, CEO and General Partner of Seraphim Space, about how SpaceTech is becoming a critical infrastructure layer for defence, communications, data, AI, energy and industrial activity. Following the recent SpaceX IPO, many investors are being forced to develop a view on space. But as Mark explains, SpaceX is only one part of a much broader ecosystem. Launch and Starlink may dominate the headlines, but the wider opportunity includes Earth observation, satellite communications, orbital infrastructure, in-space servicing, data platforms, defence applications, AI-enabled analysis and even the early foundations of space-based energy and computing. The conversation explores why defence is currently the main revenue engine for SpaceTech companies, particularly across dual-use technologies that serve both military and commercial markets. Mark explains how European governments are reassessing their dependence on US space capabilities, why Germany is becoming more active, and why the UK continues to produce strong SpaceTech start-ups while still facing a later-stage capital gap. Ross and Mark also examine the commercial side of the market. AI is making satellite data easier to ingest, interpret and apply across industries. Falling launch costs, particularly through Starship, may change the economics of orbital infrastructure. That could make previously speculative ideas, such as orbital data centres, in-space manufacturing and solar energy generation, more plausible over time. Mark also discusses Seraphim’s own investment model, from accelerator stage through to venture and listed growth capital. He explains why specialist knowledge matters in SpaceTech, why vertical integration can create powerful moats, and why permanent capital may be well suited to companies building the next layer of digital infrastructure in space. In this episode: Why space is better understood as infrastructure than as a conventional sector Where the opportunity sits beyond SpaceX, Starlink and launch Why defence demand is accelerating revenues across dual-use SpaceTech How AI is changing the economics of satellite data Why falling launch costs could unlock orbital computing and manufacturing How orbital debris and in-space servicing are becoming investable markets Why Seraphim uses accelerator, venture and listed growth capital structures Guest: Mark Boggett is CEO, General Partner and co-founder of Seraphim Space, an investment firm dedicated to the global SpaceTech market. He helped launch the world’s first venture-capital fund focused exclusively on SpaceTech in 2016. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-boggett-5044631/ Seraphim’s platform spans an accelerator, early-stage venture capital and the London Stock Exchange-listed Seraphim Space Investment Trust, giving the firm exposure to businesses from formation through to growth stage. 🌐www.seraphim.vc HostRoss Butler is the founder and host of Fund Shack. He has worked around private capital for 25 years as a journalist, policy adviser and consultant, and is the author of Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the Spoils of a Private Markets Revolution. 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian#investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Our sponsor Private Markets Capability: https://privatemarketscapability.com/ Take the PMC-Q50 assessment. https://pmc-q50.scoreapp.com

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What NAV Is Really Signalling in Private Markets | Alex Branton, Nodem Capital

Private markets were built around illiquidity. Investors commit capital, managers invest it over time, and cash comes back when assets are sold. But as private equity, private credit and private markets have scaled, the industry has had to build a more sophisticated liquidity toolkit. In this episode of Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with Alex Branton, Chief Investment Officer at Nodem Capital, about what NAV really means, how NAV lending works, and why secondaries, continuation vehicles, structured secondaries and evergreen funds are becoming central to private markets. Alex explains how NAV lending sits on a spectrum. At low loan-to-value ratios, it looks like conservative credit. At higher LTVs, it begins to resemble preferred equity or structured secondaries, where the lender takes more equity-like risk and future upside is shared. The episode explores why NAV loans are controversial. They can fund an accretive acquisition, support a strong portfolio company or buy a discounted secondary position. But they can also accelerate DPI or distribute cash when the underlying assets may not be ready for exit. The structure is not the issue. The motivation is. Ross and Alex also discuss the robustness of NAV itself. NAV is not cash in the bank. It is a manager mark, shaped by comparable multiples, valuation policy, auditor review and GP judgement. For NAV loans, secondaries and evergreen funds, NAV matters because it is the reference point for buying, selling, lending and redeeming. The conversation then turns to evergreen funds and private wealth access. Alex is positive about evergreen vehicles, but warns that implied liquidity creates a challenge. Investors need to understand how NAV is constructed, how redemptions work and what happens when negative headlines trigger outflows. The episode finishes with private credit, software exposure, defaults and recent market anxiety. Alex argues that the market should distinguish between genuine credit risk and liquidity pressure inside fund structures. His view is that private credit headlines are often overstated, but underwriting standards, leverage, amend-and-extend behaviour and smaller-market lending should still be watched carefully. Topics covered include: 🔹What NAV really means in private markets 🔹How NAV lending works 🔹 LP-led and GP-led secondaries 🔹Continuation vehicles and strip sales 🔹Structured secondaries and preferred equity 🔹Loan-to-value, downside protection and equity risk 🔹DPI acceleration versus accretive NAV loan use cases 🔹Why NAV lending is controversial 🔹LPAC governance and investor alignment 🔹 Why NAV is not the same as cash 🔹 Secondary market pricing and bid-ask spreads 🔹Evergreen funds and private wealth access 🔹 NAV squeezing, or NAV stretching 🔹Private credit risk, SaaS exposure and default rates 🔹Why fund structure matters as much as asset quality This episode is essential listening for GPs, LPs, private credit investors, secondaries specialists, family offices, wealth advisers and anyone trying to understand how liquidity, valuation and alignment are changing across private markets. Guest: Alex Branton, Chief Investment Officer, Nodem Capital 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-branton-b6130a27/ Host: Ross Butler, Fund Shack 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/

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Private Equity Is a Talent Business - Flor Kassai, Inflexion

Flor Kassai, Managing Partner and Head of Buyout at Inflexion, joins Ross Butler to discuss European mid-market private equity, talent, origination and repeatable value creation. Flor argues that private equity is more of a talent business than an investment business. In her view, getting the right management team into a company is the central variable in whether a deal can scale, adapt and create value. This episode explores how Inflexion thinks about dealmaking in 2026, including the importance of pricing power, margin quality, sub-sector expertise and repeatable playbooks. Flor explains how Inflexion has built depth in areas such as testing, inspection, certification and compliance, veterinary roll-ups, fund administration, corporate services, skincare, wealth management and even darts. The discussion also covers direct origination in the European mid-market. Flor explains why trust is built over years, not meetings, and why local presence still matters in a world increasingly shaped by AI and data-led sourcing. The conversation includes Inflexion’s relationship with Easyfairs founder Eric Everard, its expansion beyond the UK into Benelux, the Nordics and DACH, and its use of continuation funds to extend ownership of high-quality assets. Also discussed: Why 2026 is a tricky but attractive environment for disciplined private equity investors How Inflexion repeats sub-sector playbooks across strategies and geographies Why management teams and talent are central to private equity value creation How direct origination works in founder-led and relationship-driven markets When buy-and-build works, and when organic growth is the better answer Why continuation funds can be a good structure when the next phase of value creation is clear What Nodor reveals about finding value in unexpected mid-market niches Flor’s career journey from Argentina to JP Morgan, Wharton, Bain, Hg and Inflexion Watch the full episode and explore more private markets insights at Fund Shack. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 About our guest Flor Kassai is Managing Partner and Head of Buyout at Inflexion. She leads Inflexion’s buyout strategy and has been closely involved in the firm’s growth across the UK and Northern Europe. 🔗https://www.linkedin.com/in/florencia-kassai-a711b2/ 🌐 https://www.inflexion.com/people/flor-kassai/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 About our host Ross Butler 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book: Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian #investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 🏢 Private Markets Capability – 5-Minute Assessment Private markets are moving into the adviser channel faster than most firms are building real capability. This short diagnostic looks at how consistently your team can explain, challenge and navigate private markets in client conversations. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll see: Where your capability is strong Where it varies across individuals Where your firm may be exposed as the market evolves No preparation required. Instant score and clear next step. 👉 Take the assessment: https://private-markets-capability-assessment.scoreapp.com/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

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Where Private Markets Meet Reality | Secondaries Explained | Nigel Dawn | Fund Shack Ep. 85

Private markets look stable… until they don’t. NAVs move slowly. Returns look smooth. Volatility appears contained. But none of that is tested until an investor actually tries to sell. That’s where secondaries come in. The secondaries market is where private markets lose their narrative and face reality. It’s where valuation becomes negotiation. Where liquidity becomes optional. And where the difference between price and value stops being theoretical. In this conversation, Nigel Dawn, Global Head of Private Capital Advisory at Evercore, breaks down how secondaries have quietly become one of the most important forces shaping private markets today. If you want to understand private markets properly, this is where you start. What is the secondaries market in private equity? The secondaries market allows investors to buy and sell existing private market assets, including fund interests and company stakes, providing liquidity in an otherwise illiquid asset class. Why does the secondaries market matter? It is the point where private market valuations (NAVs) are tested against real transaction prices, making it critical for price discovery, portfolio management and liquidity. What are continuation vehicles? Continuation vehicles are structures that allow private equity managers to hold high-quality assets for longer while offering liquidity to existing investors and bringing in new capital. How large is the secondaries market? Despite rapid growth, it remains small at roughly 2% of total private markets NAV, suggesting significant room for expansion. What is the outlook for secondaries? Growth is expected to accelerate, particularly in private credit secondaries, driven by demand for liquidity, portfolio management and new investor access. What’s covered Why secondaries are the true pricing mechanism in private markets The shift from stigma to strategic portfolio management How continuation vehicles actually work (and why they’re misunderstood) The difference between NAV and executable price How conflicts are managed in GP-led transactions The rise of private wealth capital in secondaries Why private credit secondaries are the next major growth area Chapters 00:00 Secondaries: where private markets meet reality 01:26 What the media gets wrong about private markets 03:00 From stigma to strategy, evolution of secondaries 06:13 Why the market is still only ~2% of NAV 07:45 Continuation vehicles explained 10:30 Not “kicking the can” what’s really happening 15:53 Conflicts, ILPA and investor protection 19:28 How pricing works (NAV vs price) 22:03 Retail capital and evergreen structures 30:37 Liquidity solutions (NAV lending, strip sales, etc.) 32:14 Private credit secondaries, next wave 38:04 Has private markets lost its partnership model? Secondaries are no longer a niche. They are becoming the operating system of private markets liquidity, enabling: Active portfolio management Real price discovery Capital recycling at scale 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Nigel Dawn is Global Head of Private Capital Advisory at Evercore. He advises institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and private equity firms on secondaries transactions globally. 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-dawn-9aa121/ 🌐https://www.evercore.com/who-we-are/overview/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Ross Butler Private Markets Capability – 5-Minute Assessment Private markets are moving into the adviser channel faster than most firms are building real capability. This short diagnostic looks at how consistently your team can explain, challenge and navigate private markets in client conversations. In less than 5 minutes, you’ll see: Where your capability is strong Where it varies across individuals Where your firm may be exposed as the market evolves No preparation required. Instant score and clear next step. 👉 Take the assessment: https://private-markets-capability-assessment.scoreapp.com/ 🔗 CONNECT with Ross on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/

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Permira Credit – What's really happening in Private Credit | David Hirschmann | Fund Shack Ep. 84

Private credit has grown into a $1.6–1.7 trillion market, but much of the current narrative is dominated by concerns around defaults, AI disruption and liquidity. In this episode, David Hirschmann, Co-Head of Permira Credit, explains why private credit is a structural evolution of the financial system, not a cyclical boom, and why much of the perceived risk reflects a misunderstanding of how credit actually works. What we cover 🔹The post-GFC origins of private credit 🔹How direct lending competes with syndicated loans 🔹Why borrowers pay a premium for certainty and flexibility 🔹 The role of equity cushions in protecting lenders 🔹 What really happens in a default scenario 🔹Why extreme default forecasts may be overstated 🔹The difference between equity risk and credit risk 🔹How AI impacts credit underwriting 🔹Why information advantage matters in private credit 🔹How LPs assess and differentiate managers Private credit is often judged through an equity lens, focusing on valuation risk and market sentiment. In reality, credit investing is driven by cash flow durability, capital structure and recovery dynamics, which can produce strong outcomes even when equity returns disappoint. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 David Hirschmann Co-Head of Permira Credit & Head of Private Credit 🔗CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-hirschmann-4072a2/ 🌐 https://www.permira.com/investing/credit 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian#investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Chapters 00:00 – Private credit: structural shift or temporary boom? Why the asset class has grown so rapidly and why the current narrative may be misleading 02:20 – The post-GFC origin story. How bank retrenchment created the opportunity for private lenders 04:30 – Banks vs private credit: competition or coexistence? Where banks still dominate and where private lenders have the edge 07:00 – Private debt vs syndicated loans. Cost vs certainty, and why borrowers increasingly choose private markets 10:30 – Is private credit too borrower-friendly? Relationship lending, sponsor alignment and the role of equity cushions 12:00 – What happens when deals go wrong? Restructuring, debt-to-equity conversion and recovery dynamics 14:30 – Default rates: are markets overreacting? Why extreme forecasts may reflect macro fear rather than fundamentals 16:00 – AI risk: equity vs credit perspective. Why technological disruption impacts valuation more than repayment 20:00 – What investors get wrong about credit risk. Why leverage and covenants alone don’t tell the full story 23:00 – Case study: restructuring and recovery. How a challenged investment still delivered a positive outcome 25:00 – Can LPs really differentiate between managers? Market concentration and what actually matters in manager selection 27:00 – Why experience is critical in private credit. Downside management, restructuring and long-cycle investing 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 About Fund Shack Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack www.fund-shack.com Explores private equity, private credit, infrastructure, secondaries and private wealth access through long-form, technical conversations with leading practitioners and thinkers. 💡 Suggest a guest: katie@linearB.media 📩 Join our community Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 📘 Explore episode summaries, transcripts and related content at www.fund-shack.com 🔔 Subscribe for more deep-dive private markets conversations

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How machines will transform private capital markets | Ep. 83

Can algorithms already outperform human decision-making in private equity? In this episode of Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack www.fund-shack.com, Ross Butler speaks with Oliver Gottschalg, Professor at HEC Paris and founder of Gottschalg Analytics, about how machine learning is already reshaping private equity fund selection and secondaries pricing. Drawing on more than 25 years of empirical research and extensive real-world back-testing, Gottschalg explains why algorithmic decision support can improve outcomes using the same opportunity sets LPs invest in today. The discussion explores why private markets may be structurally better suited to machine learning than public markets, where human judgement still matters, and how lower-cost, more scalable private equity products could emerge. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Topics covered include: How machine learning can outperform “normal” private equity allocation decisions What conservative back-testing on real LP portfolios reveals Why private equity secondaries pricing remains inefficient The limits of explainability and the rise of predictive decision-making How humans should interact with algorithms as downside governors, not alpha generators What this means for LPs, GPs and the future cost of liquidity in private markets 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Guest: Oliver Gottschalg, Professor of Strategy and Business Policy at HEC Paris, Director of the HEC Private Equity Certificate, and Founder of Gottschalg Analytics. 🌐 Gottschalg Analytics: https://www.gottschalg.com/🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-gottschalg-b53b6261/ Host: Ross Butler, Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian#investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 About Fund ShackPrivate Markets Podcast, Fund Shack www.fund-shack.comExplores private equity, private credit, infrastructure, secondaries and private wealth access through long-form, technical conversations with leading practitioners and thinkers. 💡 Suggest a guest: katie@linearB.media 📩 Join our community Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 🎧 Listen on podcast platforms or watch the full episode on YouTube 📘 Explore episode summaries, transcripts and related content at www.fund-shack.com 🔔 Subscribe for more deep-dive private markets conversations

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Evergreen Funds, Private Credit and the Information Problem | Cyril Demaria-Bengochea

In this episode of the Private Markets Podcast, Fund Shack, Ross Butler is joined by Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Head of Private Market Strategy at Julius Baer and Associate Professor at EDHEC Business School. Cyril brings a rare combination of academic rigour and practical industry insight, shaped by his work with institutional investors, private banks, regulators, and industry bodies including Invest Europe and ILPA. Together, Ross and Cyril unpack what is really changing in private markets, why innovation is accelerating despite slower fundraising and exits, and why information quality, not liquidity or leverage, is now the industry’s biggest constraint. The discussion explores how continuation funds have moved rapidly into the mainstream, why evergreen structures have become central to private-wealth portfolios, and where the real risks sit beneath commonly used labels like “semi-liquid”. Cyril also offers a measured, data-driven view on private credit, arguing that its growth reflects capital filling the void left by regional banks rather than an unchecked expansion of systemic risk. The episode goes on to examine listed versus unlisted private equity, the limits of trading private shares without public-market disclosure, and how private markets increasingly compete with fixed income rather than public equities in long-term portfolio construction. This is a technical, practitioner-focused conversation for allocators, advisers, wealth managers, and professionals navigating private markets at scale. Topics covered include: Evergreen private equity funds, continuation vehicles and GP-led secondaries, private credit and direct lending, portfolio construction for private wealth, listed private equity vs unlisted structures, liquidity and redemption risk, transparency and due diligence, AI and venture capital cycles, and the role of information in market discipline. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Cyril Demaria-Bengochea Head of Private Market Strategy at Julius Baer Associate Professor at EDHEC Business School Author and advisor to Invest Europe, ILPA, and the European Commission 🌐 https://www.juliusbaer.com/international/en/our-solutions/investing/other-solutions-and-products/private-markets-offering/ 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyril-demaria/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com 🔗 CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian 🎬Meet the Author webinars https://l.ead.me/BarbarianWebinar #investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Fund Shack is a podcast exploring private equity, venture capital, private credit, infrastructure and real assets, through in-depth conversations with the investors, founders and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets. 🔗 More episodes: www.fund-shack.com 💡 Suggest a guest: katie@linearB.media 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

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Private Equity Myths vs Reality: Jobs, Housing and 401(k)s | Will Dunham American Investment Council

Will Dunham, President and CEO of the American Investment Council, joins Fund Shack to unpack one of the most misunderstood debates in modern finance: the real economic impact of private equity and private credit in the United States. We explore how private capital supports 13 million American jobs, why online narratives around housing and healthcare often diverge from the data, and how private equity is funding manufacturing reshoring, AI infrastructure and national security. We also examine the policy shift opening 401(k) retirement plans to alternative investments, the controversy around private credit and systemic risk, and the broader question of whether private capital remains aligned with everyday Americans. Topics include: 🔹private equity in US housing 🔹build-to-rent supply 🔹rent-to-own models 🔹healthcare access and innovation 🔹 the growth of private credit 🔹Federal Reserve research on systemic risk 🔹the shrinking US public markets 🔹pension fund returns 🔹the diversification challenge for retirement savers 🔹the SEC private fund adviser rule 🔹the political dynamics shaping private capital's licence to operate. For investors, advisers, policymakers and allocators seeking a clear view of how private markets actually function on Main Street, this episode offers grounded analysis rather than headlines. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Thank you to our episode partner, Brookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services. For more information, visit: www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Learn more at: Will Dunham President and Chief Executive Officer 🌐 www.investmentcouncil.org CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/dunhamwill/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian#investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Fund Shack is the private equity podcast with in-depth conversations with investors, founders, and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets. 🔗 More episodes www.fund-shack.com 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ Suggest a guest: katie@linearB.media 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

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Brookfield: The private markets giant that flies below the radar

Ross Butler speaks with David Nowak, President of Brookfield’s Private Equity Group. David leads Brookfield’s North American private equity business and its evergreen strategy. He brings a contrarian, operations-led viewpoint shaped by more than a decade working across one of the world’s most integrated alternative-investment platforms. We explore how Brookfield focuses on essential-service businesses that are misunderstood, how it leverages information advantages drawn from its global infrastructure, real estate, renewables and energy-transition platforms, and why its dual-sponsorship model between investors and operators produces repeatable value creation across market cycles. Brookfield’s approach is not thematic. Instead, it targets situations where perceived risk diverges from actual risk. David discusses the Westinghouse acquisition as an example: nuclear power was deeply out of favour, yet Brookfield’s renewables team demonstrated it remained indispensable to regional power grids. Operational work then doubled EBITDA. A similar framework guided the acquisition of Clarios, where market consensus around electric vehicles failed to reflect realistic adoption rates and operational improvement opportunities. A large part of Brookfield’s private equity model centres on operations. Around 35 senior operators sit directly inside the investment floor, and every deal is jointly owned by an investor and an operator from diligence through exit. Over half of Brookfield’s private equity returns have come from operational improvement, not leverage. Investment professionals also spend a year inside a portfolio company before promotion, building practical judgement that informs decision-making back at headquarters. David also unpacks Brookfield’s exit discipline, the benefits of long-dated and permanent capital, and why resilient, essential-service companies tend to attract strategic buyers regardless of market cycles. Finally, he discusses culture, humility and career progression, offering grounded advice for young professionals entering private markets. Key themes Contrarian investing and misunderstood essential-service businesses Information advantage across Brookfield’s multi-platform global footprint The pilot / co-pilot model between investors and operators Operational value creation and secondments into portfolio companies EBITDA improvement through pricing, supply-chain and organisational work Evergreen capital, strategic exits and long-hold flexibility Culture, apprenticeship and career development in private equity 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Learn more at: 🌐 www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry David Nowak: https://www.brookfield.com/about-us/leadership/david-nowak Brookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services. Ross Butler: Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian #investlikeabarbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Fund Shack is the private capital podcast with in-depth conversations with investors, founders, and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets. Its were Private Markets meets private Wealth. 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 00:00 Why Brookfield avoids thematic investing 01:00 Evolution of Brookfield’s PE strategy 03:00 Essential-services focus; 06:00 Dual-sponsorship model 09:00 Integrated open-floor culture 12:00 Westinghouse case 15:00 Operational EBITDA gains 18:00 Investor secondments 20:00 Clarios and EV cycles 24:00 PE in higher rates 28:00 Strategic exits 31:00 Alignment and pricing discipline 33:00 Culture and apprenticeship 35:00 Career guidance 38:00 Closing reflections

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Creative destruction and the making of the modern world, with Jack Weatherford

Anthropologist and best-selling author Jack Weatherford, whose Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World redefined how we view empire and innovation, joins Ross Butler to explore how the Mongol world prefigured today’s private equity model. When the Mongols swept across Eurasia in the thirteenth century, they destroyed old orders, but they also built new ones. In this conversation, Jack Weatherford explains how Genghis Khan combined conquest with institution-building, creating a meritocratic system that elevated productivity and aligned incentives in a way that modern investors would recognise. We discuss how Mongol queens managed ortōq enterprises, private trading ventures that resemble early forms of private equity, how religious freedom became the first international law, and how the empire’s census, taxation and communication systems created transparency across continents. As the empire matured, Kublai Khan’s experiments with paper money, movable type and naval technology expanded global trade and spread ideas that helped ignite the European Renaissance. The discussion links thirteenth-century portfolio thinking to today’s private markets, showing why creative destruction only endures when creation wins. 0:00 Creative destruction and leadership 1:26 Learning loops, humility and meritocracy 3:56 Parallels with private equity ownership 10:22 Building value through safety and trade 15:02 Census, taxation and the power of numbers 16:21 Queens as capital allocators – the ortōq system 19:19 Religious freedom as economic policy 26:59 A family-office view of the known world 31:49 Kublai Khan’s operating model 37:36 Paper money and the limits of fiat 45:02 Global trade and early financial flows 46:05 Europe’s asymmetric gains from knowledge transfer 52:13 Technology recombination in warfare 58:12 Naval trebuchets and siege innovation 1:01:27 Horse economies and resilience 1:05:22 Genghis Khan’s Western intellectual legacy 1:08:16 Enduring principles for modern investors Jack Weatherford is an anthropologist, historian and author of Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World and The History of Money. His work explores how ideas, trade and governance evolved across civilisations and how they continue to shape modern institutions. 📘 Read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Genghis-Khan-Making-Modern-World/dp/0609809644 private equity, private markets, Fund Shack, Ross Butler, Jack Weatherford, Genghis Khan, creative destruction, history of finance, financial history, ortōq, family office, meritocracy, value creation, governance, institutional investing, long-term capital, wealth management, portfolio construction, alternative investments, anthropology of markets, economic history, private equity podcast, private markets podcast 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Ross ButlerFounder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book 👉 Invest Like a Barbarian: Share in the spoils of the Private Markets revolution ♾️ http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Fund Shack is the private equity podcast with in-depth conversations with investors, founders, and thought leaders shaping the future of private markets. 🔗 More episodes www.fund-shack.com 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/

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Fintech, Agentic AI & the Future of Financial Services | Apis Partners: Uday Goyal & Matteo Stefanel | Episode #78

Ross Butler speaks with Matteo Stefanel and Udayan (“Uday”) Goyal, Co-Founders and Managing Partners of Apis Partners, one of the world’s leading growth-equity investors in financial technology. Founded in 2014, Apis Partners has built a global fintech franchise by applying M&A discipline to private equity: identify the likely acquirers first, then build the company to fit their strategic blueprint. In this conversation, Matteo and Uday explain how they turned two decades of deal-making experience, from DLJ and Deutsche Bank to advising on Visa, Mastercard, and Worldpay into one of the most distinctive investment models in growth capital. They discuss: How Apis built credibility as a first-time fund manager, raising $290m at launch and scaling to a multi-fund global platform. The importance of the network as an asset, relationships forged over 20 years now drive sourcing, diligence, talent, and exits. “Exit-first” investing, designing portfolio companies around known strategic buyers and building to a defined market demand. Why 2025 marks the most disruptive moment in financial services history, as stablecoins, micropayments, and decentralised rails reshape how money moves. The rise of agentic AI, where your personal financial assistant will soon negotiate directly with your bank’s AI. Embedded finance and the subscription economy, from iPhones to autos, where distribution and customer ownership, not balance sheet, define value. The democratisation of wealth, as technology opens private-market access to a broader investor base while raising new questions about fairness, data, and risk. “Finance will be invisible, stitched into every product, every experience.” This is a forward-looking discussion about what comes after banking, where technology, capital, and human behaviour converge to redefine how financial systems work and who benefits from them. 🎧 Watch the full conversation at www.fund-shack.com Follow Fund Shack on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts for more conversations with the people shaping private markets and the future of finance. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Thank you to our episode partner, Brookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services. For more information, visit: www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Learn more at: 🌐 www.apis.pe 🎙️Matteo Stefanel Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Apis Partners Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteostefanel/ 🎙️Udayan Goyal Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Apis Partners Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ugoyal/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 📩 Subscribe to our Substack: https://privateequitypodcastfundshack.substack.com/ 📘 Pre-order Ross Butler’s book Invest Like a Barbarian http://q-r.to/Invest-Like-A-Barbarian 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 00:00 Fintech revolution begins, Apis Partners ranked global #2 01:45 Meet Apis Partners, fintech growth investors Matteo Stefanel & Udayan Goyal 03:06 From Wall Street to growth capital, building a fintech platform 05:01 Relationships as alpha networks turned into exits 07:56 Exit-first model designing for strategic buyers 11:24 Value creation buy-and-build and customer access 16:21 Partnering with founders, trust and alignment 18:20 Stablecoins & 24-hour liquidity, treasury reinvented 23:54 Micropayments & continuous finance, real-time money flow 27:27 Agentic AI, automation reshaping financial services 31:15 Embedded finance & subscriptions, banking disappears 36:52 Who owns the customer, brands vs banks 42:46 Finance as social engine,from UBI to capital ownership 47:00 Democratising wealth, opening private-market access 50:20 Bitcoin vs stablecoins, new financial infrastructure 54:28 the future of finance

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Inside Brookfield’s Operating Engine | Adrian Letts, Brookfield Private Equity | Fund Shack Ep. 77

Brookfield is renowned for running the companies it owns, not just financing them. In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Adrian Letts, Managing Partner in Brookfield’s Private Equity Group and Head of Business Operations, to explore how the firm’s operator-led model drives value creation from origination through exit. Adrian explains how Brookfield embeds operators alongside investors, with shared carry, shared accountability, and a shared mandate to transform portfolio companies. He discusses organisational design as a true value lever, why smaller and senior operating teams outperform larger ones, and how AI and digital tools are reshaping performance management and working-capital efficiency across the Brookfield ecosystem. From aligning incentives and structuring teams to deploying data and AI in real assets, this is a masterclass in how private equity really creates value. #PrivateEquity #Brookfield #ValueCreation #FundShack #AdrianLetts #PrivateMarkets #OperationalExcellence #AI #AlternativeInvestments #Leadership

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HSBC Asset Management on Alternatives, with William Benjamin

Private markets are no longer on the sidelines. With listed companies shrinking and private companies multiplying, alternatives are becoming a core component of diversified portfolios. In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with William Benjamin, Head of Alternative Solutions at HSBC Asset Management, about how alternatives are evolving and why investors haven’t “missed the boat” in the 2020s. Benjamin discusses: Why private equity, credit, infrastructure, and venture capital are central to HSBC’s $75bn alternatives platform The growth of evergreen fund structures and what investors should look for in managers The challenges and opportunities of democratizing access to private markets How HSBC leverages its global footprint to source opportunities beyond New York and London The cultural and career dynamics of talent in alternatives This conversation explores how one of the world’s largest financial institutions is positioning itself in alternatives, and why Benjamin believes the next phase of growth will be defined not just by institutions, but by the increasing participation of high-net-worth investors. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 👉 Subscribe to Fund Shack for more in-depth conversations on private markets and the future of investment. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Learn more at: HSBC Asset Management 🌐 www.assetmanagement.hsbc.co.uk William Benjamin, Head of Alternative Solutions at HSBC Asset Management 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/w-benjamin/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 00:00 – Introduction: William Benjamin, HSBC Asset Management 01:03 – Why alternatives are becoming mainstream 02:13 – Haven’t investors missed the boat? 03:49 – Diversification and resilient portfolios 04:36 – Democratization of private markets 05:00 – Evergreen funds: what investors should know 06:22 – Private equity & HSBC’s global sourcing edge 09:46 – Private credit: diversification and risk management 13:43 – Infrastructure, venture capital & new opportunities 16:24 – $75bn in alternatives: HSBC’s growth outlook 19:53 – Talent, culture & career advice in alternatives 23:12 – Data, digital platforms & evergreen structures 28:12 – The five-year outlook for private markets 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 #PrivateEquity #PrivateMarkets #AlternativeInvestments #FundShack #HSBCAssetManagement #EvergreenFunds #PrivateCredit #InfrastructureInvesting #VentureCapital #PortfolioDiversification #WealthManagement #InstitutionalInvestors #HNWInvesting #AssetManagement #InvestmentStrategies

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Venture Capital, National Security, and the Future of Technology | Alex van Someren

Alex van Someren has spent his career at the frontier of technology, venture capital, and national security. From joining Acorn Computers as a teenager, the company that seeded ARM Holdings, to co-founding cryptography firm nCipher, becoming a partner at Amadeus Capital Partners, and later serving as the UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security, his career offers unique insight into how capital and innovation shape geopolitics. In this episode, Alex explains how the UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSIF) mirrors DARPA-backed venture in the US, why government must learn to take risk to access frontier technology, and the realities of venture capital returns. He discusses the hype and risks around artificial intelligence, the disruptive potential of quantum computing, the fragility of semiconductor supply chains, and the ESG debate around nuclear energy and small modular reactors. For investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers, this conversation maps the crucial intersection of capital, technology, and defence in a changing global order. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Thank you to our episode partner Brookfield’s Private Equity Group: A Global leader in acquiring and driving operational transformation in industrials and essential business services. For more information, visit: www.brookfield.com/it-takes-industry 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 👉 Subscribe to Fund Shack for more in-depth conversations on private markets and the future of investment. 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 💼 Learn more at: Paladin Capital Group 🌐 www.paladincapgroup.com Alex van Someren www.paladincapgroup.com/people/alex-van-someren/ Ross Butler Founder and Host Fund Shack 🌐 www.fund-shack.com CONNECT on Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/rossbutler1/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 Alex van Someren, Fund Shack, Venture Capital, Private Equity, National Security, Defence Technology, Dual-use Technology, Cryptography, nCipher, Amadeus Capital Partners, Acorn Computers, ARM Holdings, National Security Strategic Investment Fund, NSIF, DARPA, Government Venture Capital, AI, Artificial Intelligence, Large Language Models, Quantum Computing, Post-Quantum Cryptography, National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, Semiconductor Supply Chain, CHIPS Act, National Semiconductor Strategy, Space Technology, Satellites, ESG, Nuclear Energy, Small Modular Reactors, Fusion Energy, Private Markets, Technology Innovation, Geopolitics, UK Venture Capital, Silicon Valley, Defence Spending, NATO, Paladin Capital, Calypso AI, Emerging Technologies, Risk and Innovation, Venture Returns 0:00 – Introduction 0:40 – From teenage coder to Acorn Computers and ARM Holdings 2:33 – Leaving school at 17: self-taught entrepreneur 3:26 – Building nCipher and cryptography’s real-world applications 5:27 – Dual use: civilian vs. national security technology 7:21 – The hidden history of venture capital and DARPA 8:58 – The UK’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSIF) 10:42 – Risk, government spending, and culture clash with VC 15:53 – “If you aren’t losing at least half your money…” 20:08 – The US CHIPS Act and Europe’s semiconductor challenge 29:23 – Venture capital’s boom in defence spending 36:18 – AI is over-hyped, over-used, and makes us stupid 40:30 – Defending the corporate AI stack (Paladin & Calypso) 44:00 – Quantum computing: encryption at risk 47:38 – Why space is now accessible to schoolchildren 51:31 – ESG and nuclear: small modular reactors, fusion, and energy policy 56:10 – Why making money in venture capital is so hard 59:05 – Closing reflections

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Private Equity Emerging Managers: What it takes to make it

🎧 Episode #74: Emerging Managers: What It Takes to Make It Guests: Kim Pochon (Unigestion) & Joe Briggs (BCF ) Series Launch: Fund Shack's Emerging Manager Series In this launch episode of Fund Shack’s Emerging Manager Series, Ross Butler speaks with Kim Pochon, Global Head of Primary Investments at Unigestion, and Joe Briggs, Founder of BCF, to explore what it really takes to build a successful first-time private equity fund. With LP appetite growing for new franchises, this episode unpacks the strategic, structural, and psychological factors that separate enduring platforms from short-lived experiments. 🧱 Why “Emerging” Doesn’t Mean Inexperienced Most “emerging managers” are seasoned investors; what’s new is their journey into firm-building. While GPs may dislike the label, it matters deeply to LPs allocating to this segment. 💡 Early Access = Long-Term Advantage Backing a first-time fund is about more than returns, it’s about gaining long-term partners. Kim Pochon shares how Unigestion’s early bets have evolved into deep collaborations across continuation vehicles, co-investments, and secondaries. 🛠️ The Rise of Independent Sponsors and Hybrid Funds Joe Briggs outlines how deal-by-deal models, mini-funds, and short-duration strategies are allowing first-time managers to build track records and LP trust, without raising blind pool capital on Day 1. 👥 Team Dynamics: The Critical Risk Factor Strategy is important, but people matter more. LPs scrutinise equity splits, decision-making processes, and team chemistry. Execution risk is often people risk. 🔥 Why Founders Spin Out, and What Sets Them Apart From high-paid roles to high-risk launches, Joe and Kim explore what drives professionals to strike out on their own, and why the best emerging managers have a clear purpose and strong conviction. 📈 “Know Why You Deserve to Exist” As Briggs puts it, emerging GPs must clearly articulate why their platform should exist, what differentiates it, and how it delivers value to LPs from Day 1. 🔗 Fund Shack is an independent podcast serving the global private capital industry. ✅ Share this episode with your network, it's the most valuable way to help us grow 🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your preferred platform 📄 Prefer to consume your podcast as a newsletter summary? 👉 fund-shack.substack.com 🌐 Visit: www.fund-shack.com 📧 Got a guest idea? Want to sponsor an episode? Email: katie@linearb.media Fund Shack is produced by Linear B Group Tags emerging managers, first-time funds, private equity, GP spinout, fundless sponsor, Unigestion, BCF, private equity podcast, Fund Shack, Ross Butler, LP allocations, fundraising, private markets, private capital, institutional investors, evergreen funds, independent sponsor model, PE fund structure, LP/GP alignment, continuation vehicles

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Goldman Sachs & The Expanding Role of Private Markets in Wealth Portfolios

🎧 Episode #73: The Expanding Role of Private Markets in Wealth Portfolios Guest: Kyle D. Kniffen, Goldman Sachs Asset Management In this Fund Shack episode, recorded live at SuperReturn in Berlin, Ross Butler speaks with Kyle D. Kniffen, Managing Director and Global Head of Alternatives for Third Party Wealth at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. With over $500 billion in alternative assets under management, Goldman Sachs is at the forefront of delivering institutional-grade private markets strategies to the private wealth segment. Kniffen outlines how the shift from public to private markets is reshaping modern portfolios, and how Goldman Sachs is using open-architecture, multi-asset solutions to unlock access for high-net-worth investors. The number of public companies has declined. Innovation now happens in private markets. For wealth managers, private equity, private credit, and real assets are becoming core exposures, not niche allocations. Goldman Sachs is responding with evergreen structures, simplified tax reporting, and lower minimums, but also stresses the need for investor education and clarity around liquidity expectations. Institutions typically allocate 20–30% to alternatives; individual investors? Just 5%. Goldman Sachs is investing heavily in curriculum-style education for wealth advisers and clients, covering everything from "what are alternatives?" to live updates on market trends. Delivery channels include: Custom sessions Specialist teams Ongoing reporting Kniffen discusses the trade-offs between drawdown funds and evergreen formats, especially in private credit. Evergreen vehicles offer: ✔️ Simpler onboarding ✔️ Optional liquidity ✔️ Operational ease But also require: - Strong duration management - Secondary market integration - Disciplined product structuring Goldman applies the same innovative lens to private equity, infrastructure, and real asset, blending directs and secondaries to reduce duration risk while preserving alpha. Diversification is key, but so is alignment. Goldman invests its own balance sheet and employee capital alongside clients. Transparency, robust reporting, and post-sale service are core to the client experience. For most wealth clients, alternatives remain a new frontier. This creates enormous opportunity for firms that combine performance with education, care, and long-term partnership. Goldman Sachs is positioning itself as a trusted guide for wealth managers navigating this complexity. Thank you to our episode partner, Edelman Smithfield, a specialist PR and communications consultancy for the financial markets. Their expertise in private capital spans fundraising, strategic positioning, portfolio communications, and reputation management. 🔗 Learn more: edelmansmithfield.com 📤 Share this episode with your network, Follow & Subscribe it's the most valuable way to support our growth. www.fund-shack.com 🕰️No time for the full episode: Read a summary on Substack which contains links to the best clips and quotes. https://substack.com/@privateequityfundshack 📧 Sponsor or guest idea? Email katie@linearb.media Fund Shack is an independent media platform delivering deep-dive insights into private capital and produced by Linear B Group.

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Bitcoin: The Alternative You Can No Longer Ignore

Episode #72: Bitcoin - The Alternative You Can No Longer Ignore Guest: Matthew Hougan, Chief Investment Officer, Bitwise Asset Management Bitcoin has evolved from a retail phenomenon to a macro asset that institutions can no longer afford to ignore. In this episode of Fund Shack, Ross Butler speaks with Matthew Hougan, CIO at Bitwise Asset Management, the firm behind the first crypto index fund and over $10B in assets. A pioneer of ETFs and now a leader in crypto investing, Matthew explains why Bitcoin is becoming a core component of modern portfolios, how it compares to gold, and why it's poised to reshape global finance. 💼 From Retail to Institutional Adoption Bitcoin is no longer fringe. U.S. Bitcoin ETFs now manage $37B+, with institutional capital driving a third of inflows. Bitwise’s AUM has grown 10x in 18 months. 📈 Portfolio Construction: Bitcoin as an Alternative Asset Allocators are rethinking Bitcoin’s place, not tech, not equity, but an alternative. With low correlation, high returns, and now ETF access, 1–2% allocations are improving portfolio Sharpe ratios. ⚖️ Bitcoin vs. Gold... and Beyond Think of Bitcoin as programmable, portable, real-time gold. Its market cap is under $2T vs. gold’s $21T, highlighting significant upside for long-term believers in the “digital gold” thesis. 🌐 Bitcoin as Neutral Global Collateral In a fragmenting geopolitical world, Bitcoin may serve as a non-political, global settlement asset, used across borders, free from government control. 🧠 Finance on the Blockchain From instant loans to on-chain collateral, crypto markets offer faster, transparent alternatives to traditional finance. Hougan sees DeFi merging with TradFi, not replacing it, but upgrading it. 🗣 Advice for Financial Professionals Matthew’s call to action: experiment, learn, and get ahead. Just as ETFs reshaped investing, Bitcoin could reshape finance. Start small. Learn fast. Stay relevant. -------------------------------------------- 📩 Matthew Hougan, CIO of Bitwise Asset Management Website: www.bitwiseinvestments.com Twitter: @Matt_Hougan Telegram: @pemetic Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-hougan/ 📢 Subscribe for More Fund Shack Episodes and tap into the minds shaping private markets. 🔗 LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7159157815326949376 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PrivateEquityPodcastFundShack?sub_confirmation=1 📞 Contact: Fund Shack is a private equity podcast and digital media channel for alternative investment professionals 📧 katie@linearb.media Chapters 00:00 – Intro to Matt Hougan, Fund Shack & Bitcoin relevance 01:00 – Why Bitcoin is the ultimate alternative asset 02:00 – Institutions entering Bitcoin: Demand and momentum 03:43 – Institutional case for Bitcoin: High returns, low correlations 06:03 – The blockchain as digital property infrastructure 07:00 – Bitcoin as finance’s inevitable disruption 09:00 – Bitcoin vs banks: Infrastructure comparison 11:04 – Bitcoin’s challenge to traditional valuation logic 12:03 – How institutions are categorising Bitcoin 13:17 – Why Bitcoin has value: Digital service logic 14:21 – Bitcoin’s fair value and addressable market 15:25 – Bitcoin as global settlement currency 17:03 – State actors adopting Bitcoin 18:09 – Bitcoin's correlation to other assets 19:30 – Why institutions find Bitcoin compelling 20:12 – Institutional access: How Bitwise ETFs work 22:17 – ETF security, cold storage & custody 24:00 – ETF mechanism under stress: Arbitrage & NAV 26:03 – Future of Bitcoin and financialisation 27:56 – Lending, collateral, and credit in a Bitcoin world 29:34 – Bitcoin’s influence on dollar policy 31:06 – How Bitcoin changes capital markets 33:15 – Programmable money: A new finance model 34:52 – Advice for traditional finance professionals 35:59 – Deflationary risk: Lending in a bitcoinised system 37:05 – Real value vs rent-seeking in future finance 38:25 – Advice for young finance professionals

The complexities of introducing private equity to HNWs

Episode #71: The Realities of Private Wealth in Private Markets Guest: Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Julius Bär What happens when private equity pivots from institutional capital to private wealth? In this episode, Ross Butler speaks with Cyril Demaria-Bengochea, Head of Private Market Strategy at Julius Bär & one of the most respected thinkers in private markets. Cyril blends academic rigour with industry expertise, drawing on his work with Invest Europe, ILPA, & the European Commission. Together, they explore the complex realities of opening private markets to individual investors, & why true democratisation may still be a long way off. 🏢 From Institutions to Individuals As institutional funding slows, fund managers are turning to private wealth, but it's not a simple swap. Cyril unpacks why $5M+ investors still struggle to access private equity meaningfully, & how portfolio construction must adapt to this fragmented investor base. 📊 Evergreen Funds & the Democratisation Myth Despite the buzz, evergreen vehicles still represent just 1–2% of AUM. Cyril explains why they are a tool, not a solution, & why true democratisation needs a more nuanced strategy. ⏳ Private Markets Are Three-Dimensional Long holding periods, illiquidity, & delayed returns create a "time complexity" most investors (& advisers) underestimate. Cyril emphasises that private markets require patience, planning, & portfolio redesign. 🔧 Fund Structures: Not One-Size-Fits-All Closed-end funds remain dominant, but evergreen & semi-liquid structures are gaining traction. Cyril foresees a future where fund structures are matched to investor objectives, not trends. 📉 Fundraising, Dealmaking & Dry Powder While fundraising has slowed, especially in VC, buyout strategies remain active, with managers deploying capital via smaller, lower-leverage deals focused on operational value. Dry powder is declining—suggesting a more disciplined cycle ahead. 💬 Rethinking Communication in Private Markets Cyril argues that better education & transparency are essential if private wealth is to participate meaningfully. The industry must do more to share value & demystify risk. 📢 Subscribe for More Fund Shack Episodes! Tap into the minds shaping private markets. 🔗 LinkedIn 🎧 Spotify 🍎 Apple Podcasts 📺 YouTube 🎶 Amazon Music 📞 Contact: Fund Shack is a private equity podcast & digital media channel for alternative investment professionals, produced by Linear B Group. 📧 katie@linearb.media #PrivateEquity #PrivateWealth #PrivateMarkets #EvergreenFunds #FundStructures #JuliusBaer #CyrilDemaria #FundShack #HighNetWorth #FinancialEducation #AlternativeInvestments #PrivateCapital #JuliusBär Chapters00:00 Intro 00:06 At Julius Baer, Cyril’s background & credentials00:50 The rise of private wealth & democratisation01:53 Why private wealth is hard to access03:09 How much capital is actually coming from private clients05:03 Capital limitations & structuring challenges06:15 Is the demand real or manufactured08:27 The “third dimension” of private markets: time10:09 Why traditional tools don't fit private markets11:10 Fund structures: evergreen vs closed-end13:16 Complementarity of structures & the evolving toolbox14:03 What allocation size makes private markets worthwhile16:10 Going beyond 15–20% in private portfolios17:20 Why democratisation is complex and multi-dimensional18:00 Dispersion of returns & the role of fund structures20:54 Shakespeare & the early roots of private markets21:01 Market conditions as of Q1 202524:43 The effect of tighter leverage & lower risk27:01 How much of PE returns are driven by leverage29:01 Advice for young professionals entering private markets30:54 Why staying close to the industry matters32:35 The need for broader skillsets in private equity34:46 Why the human factor still dominates deals35:06 Can private markets be made ‘cool’36:43 How sharing value could shift perceptions39:11 Communication & transparency