The Operating Partner Role Has Changed More in Five Years Than the Previous Twenty

The Operating Partner Role Has Changed More in Five Years Than the Previous Twenty

The operating partner has gone from a niche capability to a standard feature of private equity, but the role itself is changing faster than most people have adapted to it. Fredrik Bürger of EY traces how the function has evolved over two decades: from later-stage involvement to early diligence integration, from financial engineering to genuine operational transformation, and from internal resource to a source of healthy tension with portfolio company leadership that requires real emotional intelligence to manage well. Recorded at the European Private Capital Summit in London, this conversation covers the value creation levers that actually drive PE outperformance including pricing, procurement, growth, and technology, and why a company's proprietary dataset is often more valuable than whatever AI sits on top of it.

Private Credit Isn't in Crisis. It's Going Through Its First Real Cycle

After fifteen years without a true credit cycle, an uptick in defaults across private and public credit markets is neither surprising nor a signal of structural failure. It is the market functioning as it should. Natalia Tsitoura of Apollo makes a measured and confident case for why the fundamental supply and demand dynamics that created private credit remain intact, and why the firms that will define the next decade are the ones willing to innovate on structure rather than rely on what worked in the last one. In conversation with Diala Minott of Paul Hastings, the discussion covers the capital needs still unmet across European infrastructure and energy transition, the investor education gap around semi-liquid evergreen structures, and why Apollo's view is that investment remains a judgment business where culture and experience, not data patterns alone, will determine who wins.

Why Your Tax Team Should Be in the Room Before the Deal Is Done

The best in-house tax teams in private capital are not waiting to be consulted. They are in the room before a deal is structured, translating complex legislation into decisions investment teams can actually act on. Ed Hammond of Coller Capital makes the case that the shift from compliance function to trusted business advisor is not just cultural. It requires tax professionals to understand the commercial logic of a transaction well enough to know when some tax leakage is simply the cost of doing good business. In conversation with Laura Underhill of Clifford Chance, the discussion covers the growing complexity of fund structures, why data management has become the top operational priority for tax teams in secondary funds, and how post-pandemic professional mobility is creating unexpected carried interest and permanent establishment risks that need active monitoring.

Beyond Compliance: How Private Markets Are Embedding Sustainability Into Returns

The sustainability conversation in private markets has shifted. The external pressure that once defined the agenda has given way to something more fundamental: integrating ESG directly into how capital is deployed and how portfolio companies are built. Elsa Palanza, Global Head of Sustainability at ICG, makes the case that the most effective sustainability teams are not running parallel processes. They are embedded alongside deal teams from the start. In conversation with Matt Feehily of Simpson Thacher, the discussion covers the multidisciplinary skill sets sustainability leadership now demands, the governance and environmental challenges posed by AI at scale, and why the defense sector is emerging as one of the more complex sustainability questions in the European context.

Exit Readiness Isn't a Phase. It's a Day-One Mindset.

Portfolio operations has grown from a function that fixed struggling companies into a core driver of returns across the entire investment lifecycle. Selim Loukil of Advent traces how that shift has played out in practice. Earlier involvement during diligence, longer engagement periods that now stretch to 36 months or more, and an explicit focus on building internal capabilities so the operating partner ultimately makes themselves redundant. In conversation with Paul Reading of Accordion, the discussion covers the growing role of Chief Transformation Officers inside portfolio companies, why emotional intelligence has become as important as technical expertise in driving management performance, and how the best firms are thinking about AI. Not as a blanket efficiency play, but as a signal of organisational maturity to future buyers.