Partners Group更换CEO叠加上半年利润下滑和旗舰常青基金赎回压力

Partners Group replaces chief executive as pressure grows on flagship fund
Partners Group has replaced chief executive officer David Layton after redemption pressure on its flagship funds this year hit the share price of the Swiss private equity manager.
Layton will step down as chief executive to become the firm’s chief investment officer and chair of its global investment committee, the firm said on Tuesday, effective from January 1 next year.
Layton, who has been sole chief executive since 2021 and shared the role for two years before that, will be replaced by Roberto Cagnati and Juri Jenkner as co-chief executives.
The news came as the group reported a mixed set of results, after clients attempted to withdraw from some of its funds in droves earlier this year in the face of underwhelming performance.
Partners Group was a pioneer in offering private equity and other illiquid investments to wealthy individuals but has recently faced new competition as Blackstone and KKR have entered the space.
Shares in the Zug-based firm fell as much as 8 per cent on Tuesday morning as it reported fee revenues of SFr1.1bn ($1.4bn) for the first half, a fall of 7 per cent year on year. Profits fell 13 per cent to SFr502mn.
The fall in fee revenue was driven by a 39 per cent decline in performance fees, which the group said was due to making sizeable sales of holdings in the latter half of last year. Some sale processes in the pipeline for this year were likely to shift into 2027, it said.
A filing, meanwhile, showed that the firm’s flagship US private equity vehicle had shrunk from $15.8bn in net assets to $15.1bn in the three months to the end of June.
Partners Group captured the market years ago for wealthy individuals who wanted to invest in private markets by offering so-called evergreen funds that allow regular deposits and withdrawals.
Earlier this year, however, it capped withdrawals at its flagship $8.6bn European evergreen private equity fund and moved to do the same at the now-$15bn US equivalent, following a surge in requests to exit.
Both Jenkner and Cagnati have been with the Zug-based group, which has managed $186bn in assets since 2004. Cagnati most recently served as its head of portfolio solutions and chief risk officer, and Jenkner is currently the group’s president and head of business development.
Partners Group shares are down 35 per cent for the year to date.