Private Markets Profile: Inside the deal 2027

Sir Nicholas Lyons shares his reflections on the state of the UK economy and the ambitions and progress of the Mansion House Accord and Compact. He’ll outline ideas for strengthening the system while assessing the UK’s private market opportunity, offering insights from one of the sector’s leading voices.

From venture capital and private equity scale-ups to private credit and infrastructure, the UK offers diverse opportunities; but not all investors view them the same way.

Against the backdrop of the Mansion House reforms and accords, explore how DC schemes, the LGPS, insurers, sovereigns, and asset managers are approaching UK private markets, what drives their allocation decisions, and whether the much-discussed funding gap in UK growth can finally be closed.

As interest and momentum in private credit continues to rise what opportunities and structures are investors most excited about.

Infra and real estate debt are gaining traction as defensive allocations. Meanwhile continual US entrants reshape the UK private credit market. Hear critical insights from everything from NAV lending structures to asset backed debt structures. Examine how private credit strategies are evolving, where capital is flowing, and what risks investors should watch in a crowded field.

Hamilton Lane led the creation of a Multi-Asset Continuation Vehicle with a leading European sponsor which allowed them to reset the hold period of two assets that had generated strong returns and participate in a new value creation thesis.  At the same time,  the transaction provided optionality to existing investors which could choose to re-invest into the new transaction, or lock in liquidity at attractive returns.

Hear from USS Investment Management Limited (USS) as they share insights on becoming the first UK pension fund to securitise a portfolio of equity release mortgage assets. This landmark transaction illustrates how institutional investors can originate assets in private markets and bring them to public markets through securitisation. Step inside the deal to explore USS’s investment thesis, the structuring rationale, and how this innovative approach bridges private and public capital markets.

Deal study speakers will engage in a dialogue with our scrutiny panel, who will comment on and critically evaluate the preceding sessions.

RMS’s Steven King joins an LP to explore the role of timberland within institutional portfolios and the fundamentals driving growing investor interest.

The discussion will examine key return drivers, risk considerations, portfolio construction, and how timberland compares with other real assets, alongside insights into RMS’s Pee Dee Basin Conservation Easement:  the largest single conservation land protection project ever undertaken by a South Carolina state agency.

As investors seek to manage climate transition risk, NatWest Cushon has taken a pioneering step by integrating natural capital into its Sustainable Investment Strategy.

Join NatWest Cushon to explore their 2% allocation to the Aviva Investors Carbon Removal Fund, following their signing of the Mansion House Accord. Discover how this investment in peatland restoration, carbon sequestration, and forestry projects supports portfolio resilience while aligning workplace pensions with real world decarbonisation.

Hear from Antin Infrastructure Partners as they share insights on their investment and build out of the UK’s largest independent fibre network, CityFibre.

This landmark transaction illustrates how institutional investors can originate and navigate public to private investments, whilst providing long term strategic and patient capital, as well as the operational support to grow an organisation and deliver on a large-scale infrastructure project. Step inside the deal to explore Antin’s investment thesis, the structuring rationale, and how this innovative approach can provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors as well having a vital role in building out the UK’s critical infrastructure.

Guggenheim Investments presents a case study on Idox, a UK-based specialist software company providing mission-critical, regulatory-driven software to the public sector and asset-intensive industries. The session will explore how Guggenheim sourced, underwrote, and structured the deal – shedding light on the complexities of UK take-private transactions. The case study illustrates how successfully navigating complexity can result in superior risk-adjusted returns.

Deal study speakers will engage in a dialogue with our scrutiny panel, who will comment on and critically evaluate the preceding sessions.

Burkhard Kübel-Sorger talks through EBRD’s role and work in emerging markets and the investment opportunity for institutional investors.

Hear leading insights on the opportunities and challenges with a focus across the energy transition, digital infrastructure, green manufacturing, and inclusive finance. Uncover how evolving policy environments and blended-finance approaches are shaping the next wave of investable opportunities.

With LPs under pressure to show cash returns, liquidity solutions are booming from continuation funds and secondaries to NAV loans. This session examines how investors and managers are using these tools, and whether they’re short-term fixes or structural shifts in private equity.

Martin Dietz explores the creation of LGIM’s LTAF,

the investment rationale behind the vehicle, how private markets fit into long-term portfolios, and how they utilise internal and external capabilities.
The session will provide a high-level overview of asset class head- and tailwinds, LGIM’s manager selection approach, and how net zero and social considerations are integrated across its private markets strategy.

• Imraan Mohammed, portfolio manager, Border to Coast Pension Partnership
• Ben Lewis, head of investment proposition, Mercer
• James Monk, investment director, Fidelity International
• Moiz Khan, managing director and head of investment solutions, EMEA, Reinsurance Group of America
• Safaa Berkia, associate director, AustralianSuper
• Catherine Chen, Senior Investment Manager (Investment Office)-Private Assets, RLAM
• Julia French, responsible investment manager, LPPI
• Umang Rajbhandari, investment consultant, Barnett Waddingham
• Lee Belfield, infrastructure investments, Local Pensions Partnership Investments
• Aydin Latifov, private credit & alternative income, USS Investment Management
• Heather Coulson, Head of Portfolio Management & Implementation, Scottish Widows
• Julia Diez, head of UK productive assets, Railpen