Private Markets Insights II/2022

A hopeful sign of normality in times of growing uncertainty: for the first time in three years, the Golding Investor Days were held “live” again. Besides top-class speakers such as Germany’s former Foreign Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, around two thirds of the more than 100 guests attended this two-day hybrid conference in Munich’s Hotel Andaz in person. It was “wonderful” to be able to speak to each other in person again, commented founder and Managing Partner Jeremy Golding. There was an urgent need to exchange ideas face-to-face again after such a long coronavirus-enforced break, as there had rarely been a time when both the capital markets and the geopolitical environment had been exposed to more changes than at this very juncture, he stated. Jeremy Golding reminded the audience of the fate of people in Ukraine and expressed his desire that there would “hopefully soon be a solution to this terrible war”. 

In his keynote speech, Sigmar Gabriel framed the war in its larger historical and geopolitical context. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not the beginning but the consequence of a turning point in time which had already started earlier with fundamental shifts in the world order, he explained. For Europe, this made the environment increasingly “unpleasant”, stated the former minister in Angela Merkel’s cabinet, as he outlined the political and economic changes that would flow from it in the coming years.

Golding’s Chief of Investment, Dr. Matthias Reicherter, identified the four big “Ds” as the most important challenges: deglobalization, decarbonization, digitization and demographics. In his view, the private markets with the asset classes, Private Equity, Private Credit, Infrastructure and Impact, will play a significant role in the required transformation of the economy. He emphasized that “that this is not passive capital – as is often the case on the liquid markets – but innovative, active, flexible capital”. Matthias Reicherter’s presentation at the Investor Days is reported in a separate article in this newsletter.

In numerous presentations and panel discussions, the speakers delved deeper into individual aspects, discussing, for example, the question of what investments promote ecological and social sustainability and what role the investment class of Infrastructure plays in the current environment. A particularly passionate exchange ensued from the panel discussion on the subject of “Women in the financial sector”. In a discussion moderated by Melanie Klostermann, Director Institutional Clients at Golding, insiders weighed up the opportunities and challenges for women in the sector. 

Summing up the first day of the conference, Golding’s Managing Partner, Hubertus Theile-Ochel, moved from the current environment to the solutions Golding was offering its institutional investors in order to face up to the imminent changes. In this context, he elaborated upon the new Golding claim, “Make a Difference”. “At Golding, we want to make a small or even a large difference – in good times but also in times of crisis that may be upon us now.”

It became clear in the course of the conference that the world is facing enormous challenges, while potential solutions can already be discerned. The necessary transformation that impacts on all areas of life will not spare the investment sector. At the same time, the sector can provide important tools for the sustainable transformation of the economy and society, combined with opportunities for innovatively minded investors.