Schroders

Despite declining valuations in private equity, Schroders Capital’s European private equity chief Richard Damming remains confident, dismissing concerns as mere industry «noise».

In the face of fluctuating private equity valuations, Damming reassures that they remain undeterred. «You sell a company at the price you want to sell it for, and otherwise you don’t sell it,» says the head of Schroders› European PE branch. 

Global investors are increasingly favouring businesses with localised supply chains in response to geopolitical uncertainty and inflation, according to the Schroders Institutional Investor Study for 2023.

Less than a month after the European parliament adopted its updated regulation for Eltifs - the European long-term investment funds - the new framework may be showing its first cracks. The lack of liquidity remains problematic, and that makes it unsuitable for private investors. 

Schroders Capital on Wednesday said it has launched its first European Long-Term Investment Fund, or Eltif. The fund is called the Schroders Capital Private Equity Eltif 2023 and is classified as a ‘green’ Article 8 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.

Schroders Capital Private Equity Eltif 2023 will focus on lower and mid-market private equity buyout and growth investments primarily in Europe but with the flexibility to allocate to non-European companies with high operating exposure to Europe, the firm said.

Private assets might have dropped significantly in value since the “good years” of 2020 and 2021, but despite a bad year in 2022, they’re still outperforming public market returns by quite a margin, explained Schroders Capital’s chief investment officer Nils Rode at his firm’s private assets 2021 outlook this week.  History shows that private assets investors could have a strong year in 2023 despite the bad overall macroeconomic conditions, he argued.

The fund management industry can counter reputation risks posed by the increasingly complex regulatory requirements for sustainable investments with a bigger effort to boost investor education, a top executive at the Association of Luxembourg’s Fund Industry, Alfi, said on Tuesday. 

More lenient EU regulations are about to make it possible for providers to offer private investment funds to private investors. Private products such as semi-liquid funds and European Long Term Investment Funds, or Eltifs - which can be marketed also to retail clients under a European passport, often via Luxembourg - will gradually change the private equity landscape. “The split that the market currently finds itself in will then be resolved,” said Wim Nagler, head of institutional clients at Schroders.

In public markets, a well-known proposition is that at the moment that everyone steps in, the red flag should be raised: probably the best time is over. Investors in private markets, where effects are generally felt later, do not worry so much. Besides, there is not much you can do as a private investor.

Luxembourg’s Ministry of Finance has chosen asset management firm Schroders and its impact investment unit BlueOrchard as industry partners for a new climate action partnership. Schroders will serve as the management company for the finance ministry.

BlueOrchard has been appointed as the investment manager for this climate impact strategy, the firm said in a 16 June press release announcing that it had won an international tender process.

Malgré la récente baisse, le dollar américain est encore surévalué. À terme, le billet vert pourrait descendre encore beaucoup plus bas, avec des répercussions positives pour les actions européennes, japonaises et des pays émergents, mais négatives pour Wall Street.