Despite stock crash: Banks stand behind Partners Group and Private Equity

Partners Group, a prominent private equity firm based in Zug, Switzerland, is weathering a significant storm in the financial markets, experiencing a historic 16% drop in its stock price on a single trading day. This sharp decline, which occurred despite the company's generally strong track record, has shaken investor confidence and raised questions about the stability of the private equity sector.

The turmoil intensified due to withdrawal limits imposed on two "Evergreen" funds, which are investment vehicles without fixed maturities that invest in private assets. These semiliquid funds have become a source of uncertainty, with Partners Group anticipating further withdrawals of up to 5% in the second half of the year from three other funds totaling $9.7 billion for institutional investors.

Adding to the pressure, an activist short-seller, Grizzly Research, launched an attack on the company in late April. Partners Group, however, maintains that the stock market reaction is disproportionate, emphasizing that the withdrawal limits were a known possibility and that 80% of its clients are institutional investors. The company, which recently moved into a new headquarters, plans to maintain its strategic focus on attracting wealthy private clients while reassessing its distribution channels and the size of its Evergreen funds.

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The withdrawals concern individual products intended for the asset management of private clients. It is often forgotten that 80 percent of our clients are institutional investors.