Category: Women In PE Event Recap

Every quarter we gather leading women in PE to discuss current industry topics and to offer intelligent women the chance to gather, share information, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we gathered to discuss debt markets, navigating recession in the portfolio, and diversity at the PE firm level.

These forums are exclusively for women at private equity firms and follow Chatham House Rule, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. If you are a woman in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading female PE professionals during our next Women in PE Forum, RSVP here.

Debt Markets

• Difficult debt markets are affecting the ability to get deals done, requiring more creativity to get deals across the finish line.
• PE firms are shifting back towards commercial bank financing options as they are more active and holding relatively steady. 2023 predictions include:
  • Traditional banks are going to be relatively active lending on new deals versus unitranche lenders.
  • It will be particularly difficult to get financing for distressed/story assets.
  • Credit officers may try to clear underperforming loans off of their books.
  • As the cost of debt increases, the M&A market will continue to cool.

Navigating a Recession in the Portfolio

• As the economy slows, PE firms have had to shift value creation priorities (and spend more time on the portfolio than usual). Some of those new priorities include:
  • Talent. PE firms are trying to get the right people in the right seats.
  • KPIs and Reporting. PE firms are also focusing on getting the right KPIs/reporting in place to track all leading indicators.
  • Add-Ons. If the portfolio company has a strong balance sheet, it can be an excellent time to acquire competitors or struggling companies to expand market share.

Diversity at the PE Firm Level

• The data is overwhelming – diversity is the right and the smart thing for business, yet most PE firms struggle to recruit and retain women.
• PE firms need to have a thoughtful strategy to recruit women, track KPIs, and hold everyone within the firm accountable.
• Recognizing the applicant pool for women in PE can be smaller, PE firms are looking outside of the traditional PE background to identify top talent.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to gather with women in private equity to discuss these current topics. We’d be happy to connect you to the PE-grade, exact-fit, third-party resources you need, just contact us here.

Every quarter we gather leading women in PE to discuss current industry topics and to offer intelligent women the chance to gather, share information, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we gathered to discuss the current slower deal flow when compared to last year and challenges/opportunities in the face of recession.

These forums are exclusively for women at private equity firms and follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. If you are a woman in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading female PE professionals during our next Women in PE Forum, RSVP here.

Deal flow 

• After a historic 2021, deal flow is down across most industries. The summer months returned to a “normal” deal flow cycle, with fewer deals coming to market between Memorial Day and Labor Day. 
• There are still a considerable number of teasers, but the deals are not closing. Many seller expectations have not realigned to the market and are still expecting 2021 multiples. 
• The quality of deals coming to market is a mixed bag. 
• Looking forward, PE firms expect the rest of 2022 and early 2023 to remain slower. 

Challenges and opportunities in the face of recession 

• There are several economic headwinds facing the private equity industry and its portfolios – including inflation, labor issues, & supply chain concerns.
• While planning for 2023, PE firms are considering multiple scenarios, including a mild recession, a major recession, and a scenario where the current environment is our “new normal.”
• PE firms are working to streamline operations/processes, attract and retain top talent, reduce costs, and redefine pricing strategies.  BluWave is seeing surging demand from PE for PE-grade third-party experts across these categories.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to gather with women in PE to discuss these current topics. We’d be happy to connect you to the PE-grade, exact-fit, third-party resources you need to assist you in this pressurized market, just contact us here.

Every quarter we gather leading women in PE to discuss current industry topics and to offer intelligent women the chance to gather, share information, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we gathered to discuss the trending topics of continuing 2021 trends, deal process pressures, and inflation. We have shared the themes we heard discussed across different areas below.

These forums are invite-only and follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. Are you a woman in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading PE professionals during our next Women in PE Forum? Register for our upcoming Women in PE Forums here.

• Continuing 2021 Trends: Many 2021 trends will continue into 2022. Deal flow will remain high and multiples will remain high. Once interest rates are raised, public valuations should slow, which may stabilize private valuations, likely around Q4. With so much capital chasing deals right now, multiples may stay high through 2022.
• Deal Process Pressures: Only put resources towards deals you have a conviction against. Zoom made it easier to attend management presentations, so there is more competition than ever before. It is essential to have some type of differentiation to make yourself competitive. As timelines are crunched, and providers are booked up, it’s also essential to line up diligence providers at the start of the deal.
• Inflation: The vast majority of portfolio companies are struggling with inflation and supply chain disruption. Portfolio companies need to figure out how to pass the increased prices along to the customer or absorb the higher prices. It’s okay to “fire” customers – if margins are too thin, it may not be worth keeping some customers.

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to gather with other leading women in PE to discuss these trending topics. If we can be of help with any of the above, we’d be happy to quickly connect you to the exact-fit, PE-grade, third-party resources you need.

Interested in learning more about BluWave? Check out our Introduction to BluWave video to learn more about us and how we can help you. If you have an immediate need, contact us here or use the start a project button above – we’ll be happy to help you right away.

Every quarter we gather leading women in PE to discuss current industry topics and to offer intelligent women the chance to gather, share information, and decompress with one another. In our most recent event, we gathered to discuss key learnings from 2021 and goals for 2022. We have shared the themes we heard discussed across different areas below.

These forums are invite-only and follow Chatham House Rules, so listed below are high-level takeaways only. Are you in private equity and interested in joining fellow leading PE professionals during our next Women in PE Forum? Register for our upcoming Women in PE Forums here.

• BD and origination: After a year of increased competition and a lack of in-person events, firms have had to find unique ways to offer LPs a good answer for “Why you?” A number of firms are moving to more specialization from an investment strategy perspective—potentially developing new theses and then marketing these changes. Some firms have also taken the approach of becoming more explicit with bankers as to the composition of their portfolio for the purpose of proactive add-on identification.  Many BD teams have optimized their external relationships with more regimented and organized outreach—and been unafraid to follow-up with persistence, even if that had not been needed in the past.
• Investment teams: The theme of this year has been finding ways to optimize time. Deal teams are being more judicious with travel and are having remote meetings where possible in order to save time that has been spent on travel in the past. Deal teams are also working more closely with ops teams pre-close to ensure returns can be made as soon as the deal is signed.  Additionally, some firms have been unafraid to forego deals in the current heated environment until multiples return to a more normal level.
• Operating teams: Talent and human capital continues to be a significant focus (both internally and externally) with funds and their portfolio companies. That said, this year has been very difficult to attract, engage and retain talent—prompting more discipline with the process and an increased emphasis on branding.
• Personal: Remote work has been a blessing and a curse for many—allowing for more flexibility for, for example, working parents, but creating challenges in getting up to speed, especially for more junior people who are meant to learn via the apprenticeship model.  It seems the primary lesson in 2021 is grace—having grace for other people and also yourself.  This time period is inarguably difficult with the number of changes and challenges it has presented, so give others and yourself a break when you can!

We thoroughly enjoyed getting to gather with other leading women in PE to discuss learnings and takeaways from yet another unprecedented year. If there is anything we can help you with as you finish out the race to year-end, we’d be happy to quickly connect you to the exact-fit, PE-grade, third-party resources you need.

Interested in learning more about BluWave? Check out our Introduction to BluWave video to learn more about us and how we can help you. If you have an immediate need, contact us here and we will be happy to help you right away.