Partners Group, a prominent Swiss private markets firm, announced on Thursday that it may impose further restrictions on investor withdrawals due to a significant increase in exit requests. This follows the company's recent decision to cap withdrawals from its Global Value SICAV vehicle at 5%, as redemption requests surged to 9.8%.
The firm also anticipates similar pressures on a Delaware-domiciled U.S. private equity fund, expecting redemption requests of about 6% of net asset value in the upcoming quarter. Additionally, three evergreen funds, with combined assets of approximately $9.7 billion, are projected to face redemptions of 3.5%-5%.
Partners Group acknowledged the heightened volatility in open-ended funds and indicated that it would enforce a 5% liquidity limit if withdrawal requests exceed this threshold. CEO David Layton emphasized that these liquidity measures are intended to protect long-term investors and maintain returns driven by the quality of underlying assets.
Despite the turmoil, Layton noted that the firm's portfolio companies have substantial upside potential, with main funds historically returning over five times the initial investments. Following this announcement, Partners Group's shares fell more than 16% on Wednesday, reflecting broader concerns in the private markets, which also impacted shares of major players like KKR, Blackstone, and Ares.
However, shares of Partners Group rebounded by over 3% in morning trading on Thursday