HarbourVest Partners

Muted appetites have led to steep discounts, leaving some listed private equity trusts vulnerable to shareholder activism and an incoming tide of potential competitors.

Despite rampant LP appetite for co-investments, commingled funds in this space face natural barriers to their growth, including a more limited investor base and the need for extensive GP networks.

Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds sets a target of $2.85bn to private equity through 2025, including $300m set aside for a co-investment.

The market’s largest legal advisers worked on more than $800bn of transactions last year, marking their second busiest annual period.

HarbourVest now quizzes GPs about their views on NAV financing as part of its due diligence, managing director Lydia Hao tells PEI.

While becoming more difficult to define, the mid-market offers vast opportunity for outperformance.

Money continues to flow into this most undercapitalised corner of private equity.

Investing in the operational infrastructure required to address the bespoke needs of the private wealth market will be key to unlocking the full scale of the opportunity.