At IEQ Capital, continuous learning remains central to how we guide ultra-high-net-worth families through evolving markets. Through IEQ Elevate, we engage industry leaders to examine structural shifts shaping public and private markets.
Recently, we hosted Mario Giannini, Executive Co-Chairman of global private markets firm Hamilton Lane, to discuss the private market landscape, artificial intelligence as a cross-asset force, and how disciplined investors are navigating valuation and liquidity transitions.
How AI is Reshaping Private Markets
While recent cycles have focused on inflation, rising rates, and slower fundraising, Giannini noted that artificial intelligence is now a defining market force.
Public equity performance has become increasingly concentrated in hyperscalers and companies with large language model exposure.¹ Hamilton Lane highlights that private equity as an asset class provides access to a large addressable market of privately held businesses with opportunities to drive value beyond the concentration in mega-cap technology companies found in the public markets. As a result, performance comparisons between public and private markets may reflect differences in AI concentration rather than broad fundamental divergence.²
AI Interconnectivity and Systemic Risk Considerations
Artificial intelligence is not confined to equity investments in technology sectors. Its influence now spans credit markets, infrastructure, real estate, and energy.³
One key risk discussed was uncertainty around ultimate monetization. The scale of capital flowing into data centers, computing infrastructure, and power generation assumes sustained demand growth.³
Infrastructure may represent one of the most capital-intensive expressions of this theme. AI workloads require significant power capacity, prompting investment in energy assets and data centers, often in nontraditional markets. If adoption falls short of projections, utilization risk could emerge.
Valuations and the Path to Distributions
Private equity valuations have remained relatively stable, supported by continued operational performance across many portfolio companies.² The slowdown in distributions has largely reflected a bid-ask spread rather than a slowdown in earnings growth of private assets.
We have seen M&A dealmaking pick up, particularly around higher quality assets, potentially signaling a return of exits in the space.⁴
Secondaries: Supply, Demand, and Allocation Dynamics
The secondaries market was highlighted as one of the more balanced segments of private markets today. Supply and demand dynamics have supported an attractive deployment opportunity set, and the strategy has historically demonstrated resilience relative to primaries.
General partner-led transactions continue to represent a growing share of the market, with sponsors often retaining exposure to high-conviction assets. Giannini indicated that in a hypothetical allocation framework, GP-led secondaries could represent a meaningful portion of a dedicated secondaries allocation, with limited partner interests comprising a complementary component.
For investors seeking diversified exposure with improved visibility into underlying assets, secondaries may offer a differentiated entry point within private equity.⁵
Fundraising and Manager Dispersion
Manager dispersion remains elevated across private markets. While large platforms continue to scale, smaller and niche managers maintain competitive advantages in specific sectors.
Giannini expressed skepticism that broad industry consolidation will materially reduce the number of private market participants. However, he noted that limited partners are increasingly concentrating commitments among fewer managers, which may place pressure on mid-sized firms without clear differentiation.²
Geographic Opportunity: U.S. and Beyond
While U.S. private equity has delivered strong long-term results, European buyouts have outperformed in certain periods.² For globally diversified families, maintaining geographic exposure calibrated to risk tolerance and liquidity needs may support long-term resilience.
Within equity styles, growth-oriented strategies have attracted significant capital, while traditional value opportunities have been comparatively limited, particularly in areas where structural growth narratives continue to command premium valuations.
Closing Thoughts
Artificial intelligence is influencing capital allocation across equity, credit, infrastructure, and real assets. At the same time, liquidity normalization, valuation discipline, and manager selection remain central to long-term outcomes.
For UHNW families, thoughtful portfolio construction may include calibrated exposure to private equity, including venture and secondaries, selective private credit allocations, infrastructure and energy investments, and geographic diversification aligned with long-term objectives.
Sources
- S&P Dow Jones Indices. (2025). S. equity market concentration update 2025. S&P Global.
- Bain & Company. (2025). Global private equity report 2025. Bain & Company.
- International Energy Agency. (2025). Energy and AI infrastructure outlook 2025. IEA.
- (2025). Global private market fundraising and distributions report 2025. PitchBook Data, Inc.
- (2025). Global private equity and secondaries report 2025. Preqin.
IEQ Capital, LLC has a business relationship with Hamilton Lane. This relationship creates a conflict of interest for IEQ. To mitigate such conflicts of interest, all alternative private investment funds must satisfy the due diligence guidelines and requirements as established by IEQ in order to be approved for client investment.
The views and opinions expressed by Mario Giannini , during this discussion, are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, investment strategies, or recommendations of IEQ Capital, LLC (“IEQ Capital”) or any of its affiliates, officers, directors, or employees. Mr. Giannini’s participation in this discussion should not be construed as an endorsement by IEQ Capital of Hamilton Lane.
This material is as of the date indicated, not complete, and subject to change. Additional information is available upon request. No representation is made with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of information, and IEQ assumes no obligation to update or revise such information. The information set forth herein has been developed internally and/or obtained or derived from sources believed by IEQ Capital, LLC (“IEQ Capital”) to be reliable. However, IEQ Capital does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the information’s accuracy or completeness, nor does IEQ Capital recommend that the attached information serve as the basis of any investment decision. This document has been provided to you solely for information purposes and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an offer, or any advice or recommendation, to purchase any securities or other financial instruments, and may not be construed as such. It is not intended to be, nor should it be construed or used as investment, tax, accounting, legal or financial advice. IEQ provides no assurance or guarantee that any investment will be successful or that any returns will be achieved. PAST RESULTS ARE NOT NECESSARILY INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS.
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The information contained in this presentation may include forward-looking statements regarding returns, performance, opinions, the fund presented or its portfolio companies, or other events contained herein. Forward-looking statements include a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors beyond our control, or the control of the fund or the portfolio companies, which may result in material differences in actual results, performance or other expectations. The opinions, estimates and analyses reflect our current judgment, which may change in the future.
All opinions, estimates and forecasts of future performance or other events contained herein are based on information available to Hamilton Lane as of the date of this presentation and are subject to change. Past performance of the investments described herein is not indicative of future results. In addition, nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a prediction of future performance. The information included in this presentation has not been reviewed or audited by independent public accountants. Certain information included herein has been obtained from sources that Hamilton Lane believes to be reliable, but the accuracy of such information cannot be guaranteed.
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