Private Market Talks: Conversations and insights on the private markets with private capital’s leading figures.

In this new episode of Private Market Talks, Andrea Auerbach, Global Head of Private Investments at Cambridge Associates, joins us to discuss the evolution of private markets, from fundraising slowdowns and liquidity challenges to the expanding role of AI in investment strategy. Andrea shares her perspective from over two decades of experience on how investors can navigate today’s complex environment and why the most compelling opportunities may be emerging right now.

What’s next for secondary markets? In this episode of Private Market Talks, Dawson Partners’ Yann Robard joins us to unpack the evolving secondary market and untapped potential for increased capitalization. From structured solutions to the rise of NAV lending, Yann explains Dawson’s innovative approach to secondaries transcations. He also shares his outlook on private equity performance, lessons learned from building Dawson, and advice for the next generation of investors.

In this episode, partner and Private Funds co-head Howard Beber takes the host seat in a dynamic conversation with Brian Himot, head of structured capital at Strategic Value Partners (SVP). With more than $22 billion in assets under management, SVP is a leading global alternative investment firm focused on private credit, private equity and event-driven opportunities. Brian shares his path from tax lawyer to building SVP’s structured capital platform, where his team delivers flexible, tailored financing solutions for founder-led and sponsor-backed businesses. Together, he and Howard dive into the nuances of hybrid capital, weigh the advantages of sponsor vs. non-sponsor deals, and discuss why aligning with business owners on long-term growth is essential. They also explore how market volatility and shifting global dynamics are influencing deal flow, and what the next five years could bring for structured capital.

Barings is one of the world’s leading investment managers, with a platform that spans public and private markets, fixed income, real assets and capital solutions. In this episode, we sit down with David Mihalick, Co-Head of Global Investments at Barings, to explore how the firm is navigating today’s complex investment landscape. David shares insights on Barings’ multi-asset investment strategy, the knock-on effects of tariffs and current U.S. policy decisions and how middle-market companies are adapting to economic headwinds. We also discuss the evolving role of AI in private markets and its implications for human capital.

As America turns inwards, investors are turning east, towards Europe. It’s a seismic shift not seen since the end of WWII. In this episode, we talk with Symon Drake-Brockman, co-founder and Managing Partner of Pemberton Asset Management, one of Europe’s largest private credit platforms, about the implications of this shift. Prior to starting Pemberton, Symon navigated critical world events on behalf of major financial institutions, including the impact of Russia seizing Crimea, the Asian financial crisis, the Global Financial Crisis, and COVID. During our conversation, Symon helps to put current events into perspective and offers insights as to why today’s capital allocators are rediscovering Europe.

With over $62 billion of AUM, Adams Street is a global investor in private equity and private credit. It invests in over 450 global general partners in private equity and directly invests in private credit. As such, Adams Street has a unique window into these private markets. Bill Sacher sits on the firm’s Investment Committee and is Global Head of Private Credit. During our conversation, Bill discusses how Adams Street is navigating today’s rapidly changing market dynamics.

Over the past 20 years, as Managing Partner and CEO, Tracy Stuart has transformed Corbin Capital Partners from a few hundred million to over $9 billion in AUM. In this episode, we explore what has driven Corbin’s success and how its disciplined, research-focused strategy and client-centric philosophy will sustain it into the future. Tracy also shares what she has learned about leadership and offers advice to young professionals looking to make their mark in the industry.

The Asia-Pacific private credit market has doubled in the past five years, presenting growing and intriguing opportunities for credit investors. Despite its growth, the APAC region remains a complex, diverse and often unfamiliar landscape that accounts for only about 7% of the global private credit market. We spoke with Christopher Botsford, founding partner of ADM Capital, to delve deeper into the APAC private credit market and the opportunities it presents as well as its key differentiators from the American and European regions. With over three decades of experience in the area, Chris shares his approach to navigating this dynamic market and strategies for successful credit investing in one of the world’s most vibrant economic areas.

In our first episode of 2025, we speak with Robert Stark, CEO of Nomura Capital Management, who has been building a private credit business and expanding Nomura’s investment management capabilities in the Americas. During our discussion, we learn how he successfully launched the platform in a highly competitive market and how Nomura has been able to activate its network of registered investment advisors to bring private credit to the private wealth channel.

Two decades ago, HighVista Strategies set out to transform alternative investing by tapping into less efficient markets in search of alpha. Today, with $11 billion under management, the firm remains at the forefront of uncovering unique investment opportunities. In this episode, we sit down with Raphi Schorr, Deputy Chief Investment Officer at HighVista, to explore how the firm crafts its portfolios, manages governance strategy and continues to redefine success in both public and private markets. Finally, as 2024 comes to a close, Raphi to shares his insights from the past year and predictions for what to expect in 2025.

In this episode, we are thrilled to be joined by Liz Campbell, Chief Investment Officer at Portfolio Advisors, a global private asset manager specializing in the US middle market. Together with its parent company FS Investments, Portfolio Advisors manages over $82 billion in assets, giving Liz unparalleled insights into today’s private market landscape. During this episode, we take a deep dive into the secondaries market and the major forces driving its explosive growth. We talk about the pros and cons of continuation funds and the dynamic evolution of secondaries into new sectors. To close, we get Liz’s perspective on what makes a great CIO. Tune in for an in-depth, expert view on private markets and the future of secondaries!

This is a special episode that we recorded live at Proskauer’s flagship Private Credit Summit, part of its private capital event series. More than 200 capital allocators, lenders and investors joined us for an afternoon of lively discussion about private credit, fund formation and other hot topics. A highlight of the event was this conversation with the keynote speaker, Kipp deVeer, Head of Credit at Ares Management, which we recorded live for out Private Market Talks audience. Ares is one of the world’s leading private credit asset managers, so we took the opportunity to get Kipp’s views on some of the most recent market trends hitting the headlines. We cover the impact of lower interest rates on loan volumes and returns, the probability of higher defaults, the fundraising environment, and the potential for dispersion among asset managers and consolidation within the industry. Click below to hear Kipp, live from the 2024 Private Credit Summit.

Welcome back to Private Market Talks! In this episode, we are joined by Shanna O’Reilly, co-head of Private Investments at Wellington Management, one of the world’s largest investment managers. Shanna helped drive the growth of Wellington’s Private Investment platform to where it now manages over $8.5 billion of AUM. During our conversation, we discuss how she built the platform by leveraging the firm’s public market expertise, particularly in late stage venture capital. We cover the nuances of venture investing, risk diversification, the challenges of managing growth, and her strategy to lean into some of today’s hottest areas like credit real estate, debt and secondaries. To wrap up, we reflect on the keys to navigating a competitive landscape and essential qualities for building a unified and dynamic investment team.

In this episode, we are joined by David Golub, President of Golub Capital and one of the first movers in the private credit industry. Since its founding over 30 years ago, Golub Capital has made over $150 billion in loans and won over 40 industry awards. Today, the firm has over $70 billion of capital under management. During our conversation, David discusses how he and his brother, Lawrence, started Golub Capital and the drivers of its consistent performance year-over-year. We discuss the current state of the leveraged loan market, including impact of the higher-for-longer interest rate environment, the resiliency of middle market companies, and the recent resurgence of the broadly syndicated loan market. We also explore key industry trends, including the potential for consolidation, the competitive advantage of scale, and the growing retail market for alternative assets. Finally, David reflects on the future of Golub capital.

In our newest episode of Private Market Talks, we’re joined by Steven Batchelor and Martina Sanow of Hg Capital, one of the largest and most successful private equity firms in the world. Specializing in technology, financial services software, and healthcare software companies in Europe and North America, Hg manages approximately $65 billion in funds and supports a portfolio of about 50 businesses worth an aggregate enterprise value of over $140 billion. During our conversation with Steven and Martina, we discuss Hg’s investment strategy; its innovative, disciplined approach to realization on investments; and the emerging trend in private capital to attract wealthy individual investors.

Generative AI is no longer a theoretical technology. It’s here and now, and moving fast. Private funds are moving quickly to figure out how best to use it. During this episode, we explore with Dr. Mohammad Rasouli practical considerations for private funds as they consider how to adopt and implement AI, including issues of risk management, security and confidentiality, and practical implications for human capital. Dr. Rasouli is an AI researcher at Stanford University and founder/CEO of AIx2, a firm focused on helping funds tackle the transformative nature of AI. During our conversation, we examine how asset managers can responsibly integrate generative AI into their operations and ultimately their investment functions, the challenges and opportunities presented by this new technology, and how increasingly sophisticated AI models will reshape virtually every aspect of how private funds attract, invest and manage capital.

In this episode, we’re joined by Caroline Cooley, managing partner and CIO for Crestline Summit Strategies. Caroline joined Crestline in 1998 and has since helped build the firm into a multi-strategy, multi-portfolio and multi-billion-dollar asset manager. During our conversation, we explore Crestline’s “platform model” and how that model allows the hedge fund to manage risk and engage and retain top talent in the industry. We also discuss Crestline’s strategy for delivering alpha through an equity-oriented, market-neutral investment philosophy. We finish with Caroline’s views on what it takes to be a successful CIO and insights into some of the formative aspects of her career. Also joining us to lend her insights on the evolving hedge fund industry is Proskauer partner Kelli Moll. Kelli is co-head of the Firm’s Hedge Funds practice and co-lead of the global credit funds initiatives and has more than 25 years of experience advising clients across the spectrum of asset classes.

Digital Infrastructure – the cell towers, data centers, fiber and small cells that power our wireless and mobile data – is one of the fastest growing investment sectors today. New technologies such as 5G and IoT have put increasing demands on what many call the fourth utility and now, comes AI – the most demanding technology yet. As the global economy transitions to all things digital, powering this revolution has become mission-critical. On this episode of Private Market Talks, we explore what is required to operate, build and scale the infrastructure at the heart of a converging digital ecosystem. We also discuss the unique real estate, energy and regulatory challenges of developing this infrastructure. Our guest on this installment is Kyle Colvin, managing director at DigitalBridge, an $80 billion global asset manager specializing in investing in digital infrastructure. DigitalBridge is a pioneer in the digital infrastructure landscape – not just as an investor but also as an operator through active management of its portfolio companies. Also joining us today on this episode to lend his insights is Kunal Dogra, a partner in Proskauer’s M&A group who focuses on digital infrastructure.

On this episode of Private Market Talks, we’re joined by Tim Flynn, Co-Founder and CEO of Hayfin, an alternative asset manager that has invested €35 billion of capital across more than 470 portfolio companies since its founding in 2009. Over the course of the conversation, we cover a wide range of topics, including the investment principles that have made Tim and his team so successful in private credit and leveraged finance. Tim also describes what may be one of the most interesting career paths we’ve heard on Private Market Talks – from beekeeper to investor, and stops in between, and talks about the learnings from each experience that he still applies to this day. And of course, Tim discusses his view of the state of the private market and how it shapes Hayfin’s nimble investment strategy. It’s a great conversation and all happening on this episode of Private Market Talks!

Sengal Selassie is the founder and CEO of Brightwood Capital Advisors, a private credit firm with more than $5 billion in assets under management. Brightwood is a unique investor, providing financing to both non-sponsored-backed businesses as well as sponsor-backed companies across the middle market. They also invest in just five distinct industry verticals: technology & telecommunications, healthcare, business services, transportation & logistics and franchising. Our conversation covers Sengal’s path to the creation of Brightwood, the evolution of its investment strategy and how he thinks about investing with sponsor-backed and non-sponsor-backed companies. We also explore the unique challenges and special gratification of working with family-founded, entrepreneur-owned businesses, including Brightwood’s sourcing, underwriting and risk management strategies. Finally, Sengal discusses what he looks for in prospective team members and his thoughts on the importance of diversity in building a strong asset management team.