Justin Doornekamp

A year after the launch of Lightrock’s first public fund, fund managers Chris Kaashoek and Maarten Vankan say that in 2023, the adventure led them to the British private equity investor. “We were given a unique opportunity to build an asset manager from the ground up.”

Roelof Salomons hit the ground running when he became Chief Strategist at Blackrock Netherlands exactly six months ago. According to him, we are at a turning point. Capital flows are shifting direction, creating tremendous opportunities for investors in Europe.

Luxembourg may be leading the charge in Eltif launches under the revised framework, but elsewhere in the Benelux they are proving a tougher nut to crack.

Institutional investors in the Benelux region plan to allocate more capital to private markets this year.

The range of active ETFs in Europe is growing rapidly and Robeco is also investing heavily in the development of this asset class. The Rotterdam-based fund house brought in Nick King from Fidelity to roll out its ETF strategy, resulting in the launch of four equity ETFs last autumn. In 2025, the focus will be on bonds.

Esma acknowledges that further research is necessary to obtain a more complete picture of the costs of European investment funds. The European regulator made this statement following criticism from industry association Efama regarding a recent Esma report on these costs.

The year 2025 is set to be an uncertain one for investors in private markets, with particular concerns surrounding Donald Trump’s political agenda. However, experts also identify opportunities.

In 2024, valuations in private markets stabilised, and deal volumes picked up somewhat, making this year slightly better for private investors compared to 2023. However, it was far from spectacular, experts told Investment Officer in a retrospective. There remains a mismatch between what sellers expect for their stakes and what buyers are willing to pay—a lingering effect of significantly higher interest rates.

Most fund houses believe the US stock market offers the best opportunities for high returns next year, despite already high valuations. In contrast, the outlook for Europe is bleak.

Private equity is under increasing pressure to innovate in response to growing competition, according to Hylke Hertoghs and Bastiaan van Slobbe, managing partners at Marktlink Capital.