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

In the latest episode of Private Market Talks, Christian Munafo, Portfolio Manager of Growth Equity at VanEck, joins Howard Beber to discuss the evolution of the non-traditional secondaries market, the rise of late-stage private investing, and the growing convergence of public and private markets. Christian explains how the secondaries market has expanded beyond traditional LP transactions, how investors are finding liquidity in an increasingly complex ecosystem, and why private companies are attracting broader pools of capital than ever before. The conversation also explores the democratization of private markets, including how evergreen fund structures are expanding access to alternative investments for a wider range of investors. Christian closes by sharing his perspective on valuation discipline and portfolio construction, and explains why he believes private markets will continue moving into the mainstream over the next decade.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.