Buffeted by Sluggish Exit Environment, PE Funds Diversify Investor Base and Fund Strategies, Marco Masotti Tells WSJ

Private Funds Group Global Co-Head Marco Masotti spoke with The Wall Street Journal on challenges facing the private equity fundraising market and new fund strategies he expects to see more of in 2023.

In “Executives Say Private-Equity Fundraising Pressures Likely to Continue in 2023,” published in WSJ Pro Private Equity on December 30, Marco says he anticipates that the sluggish exit environment and dampened enthusiasm for equity investments will continue to slow fundraising volume through late 2023. But he expects to see funds push to diversify their investor base as some pension funds pull back, and to offer more attractive fund strategies.

“The mass affluent community now represents one of the fastest-growing sources of capital in private-equity funds,” Marco says. “Tech-enabled fundraising platforms—which are often fully digital and automated and consolidate a high volume of small-ticket investors—are also proving themselves valuable to firms in overcoming the complex administrative and compliance processes of raising capital from individuals.”

Meanwhile, different fund investment strategies are attracting increasing interest among fund investors, including credit, infrastructure and real assets-focused funds, as well as secondary funds—trends Marco expects to continue in 2023.

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