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Private assets

The importance of diversification in private assets

February 20, 2025 - 8 min

Vincent Touraine: Hello and welcome to the IPEM Wealth 2025 edition here in Cannes, as we explore the latest trends in the private assets industry. What's the outlook for this year and what's driving the democratisation of private assets? Our next guest is Philippe Faget, head of private assets at VEGA Investment Solutions. VEGA IS is an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers.

 

First, what is VEGA IS? I’ve heard you’ve recently changed your name.

Philippe Faget: Yes, exactly. The name changed early this year because there was the merger of two entities: VEGA Investment Managers and then a division of Natixis Investment Managers on the portfolio management side and on the distribution side. We are an asset manager of the Natixis Investment Managers galaxy, focusing on different asset classes. We cover private assets as well listed equities, fixed income, and other strategies, and we manage over €70 billion in assets under management.

 

VT: Can you tell us more about your offer in terms of private assets and your expertise as well?

PF: So, on private assets, we have been working a lot on democratisation, which is the subject of l’IPEM. We have built solutions over the past few years for employee scheme business, so FCPE liquid/illiquid funds investing both in private equity and listed equities or other funds invested in private debt as well and in listed debt. We do some advisory as well for big insurers that want to put in place the Loi Industrie Verte where some investments in private assets should be done, and we are about to launch in a few months an ELTIF 2.0 Evergreen fund on multi-private assets.

 

VT: Before speaking of democratisation, as you have a broad view of the market, could you give us your outlook for 2025 for the main private asset classes?

PF: Yes, 2025 will be a very interesting year. An improvement on 2024 we hope because the monetary policy will continue to ease, so it's going to be very interesting for some private asset classes to have lower interest rates. We see some favourable signals in terms of exits for the private equity segments, and we could see some challenges coming from the US election with Donald Trump as well on some key elements such as infrastructure, but his policy will be very pro-business, so it could open up some opportunities for different private asset classes.

 

VT: Even if some risks will remain, particularly on the geopolitical side and the political uncertainty in Europe?

PF: Yes, exactly this risk has been in our investment decisions and investment committees for a long time. We try to manage it; we try to diversify it. When it comes to building a portfolio on private assets, we try to be very selective on the GPs and manage this kind of risk as well.

 

VT: Okay, now on democratisation of the private assets sector, we hear a lot about it in Europe. What's your take on this? Is it a good thing for the industry?

PF: Yes, first of all, that's a very good thing for the industry because it opens up a new type of clientele, which is very important. But I think first of all, it's a very good thing for the economy because that's money that is here to finance the real economy. The stock market is a real economy as well, but it's maybe more direct, and the impact in terms of ESG could definitely be better. It’s a great opportunity for individual investors to access these types of strategies that used to be for mainly institutional or very wealthy people. When they build their portfolios, they could have these kinds of new asset classes that could be very interesting in terms of performance, risk, and social & ESG benefits.

 

VT: Okay, can you give us an idea of how you navigate between the different private asset classes?

PF: Within VEGA Investment Solutions, we are asset allocators and fund selectors. We have been doing that for 30 years in the public domain and as well in the private domain. We believe that the economic cycle has an impact on the private asset class, meaning that at some moments, it could be better to put more money into private equity than into private debt. What we do is try to analyse what is happening within the macroeconomic environment to find the best private asset classes within this kind of environment and then select the best GPs to play the strategies.

 

VT: Right now, what's your current allocation given the market context?

PF: We remain very positive regarding private equity, especially on LBOs and mid-markets. We see a lot of improvements coming in terms of exits because it was a little difficult the last few months, but we see some improvement due to the new changes in monetary policy. We really like private debt as well, and we think it has a lot of potential in terms of managing the credit risk with different governance and the way it is structured. Regarding infrastructure, we believe that even following the recent announcements from the US, there are a lot of opportunities coming in terms of renewable energies. We see some positive signals to go back or to have more money invested in the real estate market.

 

VT: In a few words, what would you like to tell wealth professionals and their clients interested in Evergreen funds?

PF: I would like to say that Evergreen funds are a very good opportunity for individual investors to invest in private assets as a first step because it’s very easy to invest. There are no capital calls to manage, no distribution; it’s just a cash subscription. The minimum amount to invest is low, so it allows a lot of people to access this investment class. In our approach to Evergreen products, we believe in diversification—in terms of asset classes, in terms of GPs, and in terms of sectors. We think that for a first step in private assets, this kind of product could be interesting.

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