Investors in Partners Group's flagship US retail fund more than doubled withdrawal requests during the third quarter, adding pressure on the European private equity firm. The Swiss group's US private equity master fund disclosed $2.2bn of redemption requests in the third quarter, amounting to 15 per cent of the fund's net assets - well above the level at which it can cap withdrawals. This compares to just $900mn, or about 6 per cent of assets, in the second quarter.
Partners Group exercised its power to limit redemptions to 5 per cent in both quarters. Shares in Partners have fallen a third this year, weighed down by poor performance at some of its oldest funds and a rush of investors seeking to pull money from its retail funds. The latest redemption requests were described as "in line with the guidance we provided . . . in July and are typical of evergreen funds in the quarters following a liquidity limit being exceeded." Although Partners was a pioneer of evergreen private equity funds for wealthy individuals, it has faced increased competitive pressures from new US product launches.
Analysts at BNP Paribas noted the redemption figures "shouldn't be a huge surprise" given pressures on other funds. This month, Partners moved to overhaul its flagship European evergreen vehicle, splitting its €6.6bn fund into older, worse-performing assets and a separate pool of newer investments aimed at delivering higher returns.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing