Schroders Capital’s Private Assets Outlook 2023: Where to find opportunities in a recessionary environment?
Investors can still expect relative resilience from private asset valuations in the coming years, despite the challenging macroeconomic environment and above-average dry powder levels, the audience at Schroders Capital’s Private Assets Outlook 2023 media webinar heard.
A focus on long-term trends, and an emphasis on sustainability & impact, as well as bespoke thematic investment solutions will be key for investors as they look tobenefit from robust private asset returns, the media audience were told.
Georg Wunderlin, Global Head of Private Assets, Schroders Capital, said:
“As Schroders Capital has grown in terms of specialisation, product offerings which meet our clients’ needs and assets under management, we have built teams with varied and complementary expertise across our global platform. In 2021, we deployed more than USD 16 billion of new capital through 647 investments across our private assets capabilities.
“Achieving sustainability and delivering impact is a key element of what we want to achieve as we believe this is crucial to long-term financial performance.”
Nils Rode, Chief Investment Officer, Schroders Capital, commented:
“The current market context has led to some investors adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach. We do not believe this will result in the best performance for investors’ portfolios in the long run, as data shows recessionary years have historically been among the best vintages for private assets.
“Access to private markets is widening beyond the traditional, institutional-only base. Rising demand from smaller, private investors seeking capital growth is being combined with product innovation improving access to several areas of private markets. This is leading to greater choice and also accelerating the ‘democratisation’ of private assets.”
Maria Teresa Zappia, Head of Sustainability & Impact, Schroders Capital, added:
“Investors are increasingly seeing financial returns and sustainable impact as two sides of the same coin. Strong investment frameworks to embed sustainability and impact in the investment process will become an industry standard.
“Where others see challenges we see opportunities; we are leveraging the sustainability and impact expertise of our impact specialist – BlueOrchard – to capture these opportunities. This has entailed enhancing our investment process, upgrading our tools and methodologies, as well as focusing on data.
“As a leader in private markets, we are keen to anticipate investors’ needs and be a key contributor to the development of a new age for private markets.”
Schroders Capital is also today publishing its Sustainability & Impact (S&I) report which describes Schroders Capital’s approach to sustainability and impact globally across sectors and teams. Supported by case studies and tangible project examples, the report also presents an action plan for the future development of S&I activities.
Read Schroders Capital’s full private assets outlook 2023 here.