适者生存：成功的行动手册

ap l a y b o o k f o r s u c c e s s TA B L E O FC O N T E N T S S U R V I V A LO F T H EF I T T E S T ap l a y b o o kf o rs u c c e s s A guide for asset managerslooking to adapt within acomplexand changing environment. More than ever before, asset managers must developinstitutional resilience to emerging challenges in anincreasingly unstable and unpredictable world. In this new playbook, we explore how asset managersand their investors can best adapt to – and thrive in – thisfast-changing environment in three key areas: liquiditychallenges, cybersecurity threats and geopolitical risks. TheSurvival of the Fittestplaybook is a collaborationbetween TMF Group, cybersecurity software and servicesprovider, Drawbridge, and global asset manager,Schroders. L I Q U I D I T YS O L U T I O N S Adapting to new liquidity challenges New financing solutions, such as general partner (GP) ledsecondaries and net asset value (NAV) lending, arerapidly coming to the fore in private markets to solveliquidity and capital pressures on both limited partners(LPs) and GPs in a changing private equity PEenvironment. Managed correctly, these can createeffective outcomes and even benefits to all parties. But,with investors and regulators demanding ever-increasingdisclosure, transparency and alignment, managers shouldnot underestimate the scale of the operational andtechnological requirements that these types oftransactions necessitate. PE fund investment hold periods are frequently extendingbeyond their intended length as GPs hold out for betterexit valuations. This confluence of challenges is leading toa rapid rise in the adoption of two relatively new sourcesof financing and fund formation in PE. The first is NAV lending, where funds, typically inbuyout but also to a lesser extent in growth andventure, take out loan facilities that are collateralisedagainst the NAV of a multi-company portfolio ofseasoned fund assets. The second is GP-led secondaries, includingcontinuation fund vehicles where GPs sell an existingasset (or assets) to new LPs or into a new vehiclethat can be held for a longer period. The new fund isfinanced either by new or existing LPs, depending onwhether they choose to retain their investment orcash out, or by a combination of the two. The interest rate cycle has finally changed, but the higherrate environment of the last few years, tighter credit termsand steep declines in fundraisings and exits havechanged the landscape in private equity for GPs and LPsalike. This has brought new challenges, but also openedup new opportunities that require fresh thinking andinnovative solutions as industry participants have had toadapt to an evolving climate. In both cases, these structures have sparked a degree ofcontroversy and misconception regarding the uses andapplications of NAV loans or continuation vehicles, themotivations for GPs doing the transactions (in certaininstances), the subsequent possible misalignments ofinterests between GPs and LPs and the potential (in thecase of NAV lending) for adding leverage on leverage. This is especially evident in the area of fund and portfoliofinance, where fund managers and investors alike arefacing liquidity and capital pressures driven by the sharpslowdowns in new capital inflows for GPs anddistributions to LPs. As with any nascent market or asset class, it is notunusual – in fact, it is expected – for an element ofuncertainty or skepticism to exist in the initial stages ofdevelopment. The same was true in other areas that havesince evolved into staple, mainstream features of theprivate equity ecosystem – such as subscription-linefinancing, direct lending or secondary transactions. In the case of NAV lending, the Fund Finance Associationand other industry participants predict up to seven-foldmarket growth over the next few years, from the currentestimated size of around $100 billion to $700 billion by2030. And, despite occasional negative comments in the pressand by some industry participants, the consensus is clear:both NAV lending and continuation funds are growingfast, offering flexible and valuable solutions to a changingPE investment environment. Both products look well set –as with subscription lines, direct lending and secondarytransactions over recent years – to become establishedand widely-used instruments that create value for GPsand LPs of all types and sizes. Independent private equity fundraising advisory firm,Rede Partners, projected in a recent report that theadoption of NAV loan facilities by PE funds could reach90%, following a similar growth path to the rapid andwidescale adoption of subscription-line financing by PEfunds over the past decade. Key to the growing appeal of NAV lending is the array ofuses and applications to which cross-collateralisedportfolio loans can be deployed for both offensive(value-creation) and defensive (portfolio-protection)purposes. And while there have been some misgivingsabout the potential use of NAV facilities t