Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast: Recent Episodes
Hugh MacArthur, Bain & Company
Hugh MacArthur, head of Bain & Company's Global Private Equity practice, interviews leading experts on the trends and opportunities that will redefine the private equity industry.
We ask Advent’s Managing Partner and Co-Head of North America how they’ve combined deep sector expertise with true global scale.
In part two of our interview series with the CEO of CVC, we explore how they’re navigating one of the toughest fundraising markets in decades, their firm-wide embrace of AI and why he considers Europe one of the world’s most compelling markets for generating alpha.
CVC CEO Rob Lucas explains how climbing the world's highest mountains—from the Seven Summits to K2—has helped shape the leadership philosophy behind one of the world's leading private equity firms.
In part two of our interview series, Pete Stavros shares how KKR has scaled employee ownership to 85 companies and 200,000 frontline workers — and why it can be a powerful performance lever when done right.
KKR's Co-Head of Global Private Equity and Partner reveals the rigorous, long-term discipline required to drive real operational improvements.
Private equity is not in a crisis — rather, it’s stuck. The issue isn’t capital; it’s confidence.
Read Bain’s 2026 Midyear Private Equity Report here.
Register for our live webinar here.
The CEO of Vista Equity Partners explains what it will take to win the “agentic revolution.”
In part two of our interview series, the Co-Head of Private Equity at Apollo shares how they return capital well ahead of schedule and how they’re applying “clean sheet thinking” to AI.
We ask the Co-Head of Private Equity at Apollo how he scours “less trafficked” parts of the market and how his team spreads ideas across a disparate set of industries, from casinos to airlines to auto-parts.
In part two of our interview series, we ask the CEO of Triton how higher interest rates, constrained leverage, and rising macro uncertainty are creating fresh opportunities for disciplined investors.
We ask the founding CEO of Triton how he invests in areas “before they become themes," and how he has built an organization that is both deeply entrepreneurial and strictly disciplined.
In part two of our infrastructure series, the Stonepeak CEO explains how he’s zeroing in on investment opportunities across the energy sector and why logistics infrastructure could see surging demand in an era of deglobalization.
We ask a pioneer of modern infrastructure how to invest across booms, busts, and technological revolutions.
Jennifer Choi, CEO of ILPA, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation on the current mood among LPs, the mainstreaming of continuation vehicles, and the accelerating race to retail capital.
A glance at the top-line numbers would suggest the industry is gaining traction, but is it?
Read the full 2026 Global Private Equity Report, here.
Register for our webinar on March 5, here.
In part two of our interview with Gryphon’s co-CEO, we discover why his $11 billion firm built a 40-person ops team—something most middle-market firms wouldn’t even contemplate.
We ask the co-CEO of Gryphon Investors how he foresaw one of the harshest cycles in the industry’s history and when he thinks it may finally break.
The question for investors is not whether AI will boom or bust, but who may be unwittingly subsidizing the buildout.
Bain’s leading macroeconomic expert examines the cracks beneath the surface of the US market and how investors should prepare for post-globalization realities.
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you’ve probably seen some of my weekly musings on the state of the private equity industry. One post from earlier this year struck a particular nerve. Titled “It’s Time to Clean Out the PE Attic,” it began with this observation: “There’s a musty corner in every LP’s private equity portfolio—a collection of tail-end buyout funds that quietly aged past their prime.” That post went somewhat viral nearly five months ago, and the question I’d ask today is whether the attic has gotten any cleaner.
Today on Dry Powder, we’ll strip away the emotions around tariffs and examine the underlying market data. I’ll also discuss whether 2026 could mark a return to exits and dealmaking at scale.
In part two of our interview series, we explore how TA hits the ground running on value creation.
How does TA find the time — and the manpower — to sift through 40,000 companies a year?
In part two of our interview series with Kristin Olson, Global Head of Alternatives for Wealth at Goldman Sachs, we consider how Goldman Sachs is positioning itself for scale and just how far the industry is from truly democratizing private markets.
Kristin Olson, global head of alternatives for wealth at Goldman Sachs, explains how her team is preparing for more than 30% yearly growth in the individual investor space.
Permira’s Co-CEO reveals how a sector-embedded, operator-led value creation team drives revenue growth across their portfolio.
Permira’s Co-CEO explains how his firm has successfully scaled across Europe and the U.S. in equal measure.
In part two of our interview series, we explore how the impact lens can enhance carve-outs — from deal sourcing to execution.
A pioneer in the realm of impact investing explains how The Rise Funds have scaled over the last decade—and why they're hitting “escape velocity.”
On June 23, I joined the Capital Allocators podcast to discuss some of the pressing challenges facing the private equity industry today, with a particular focus on the ongoing liquidity crisis. This is an unprecedented and, I would argue, an underappreciated problem for the industry. We should be talking about it more, and that’s why we’re sharing this excerpt with you today.
I’d like to thank the host of Capital Allocators, Ted Seides, for the opportunity to dive deeper into the data on exits and fundraising and also to explore some of the tools the industry might use to navigate this impasse. You can also listen to our full conversation on the Capital Allocators podcast here.
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[This episode originally aired on July 12, 2023] In part two of our conversation with Ian Charles, we reflect on a career of consummate innovation in the secondaries market.
[This episode originally aired on June 22, 2023] Ian Charles, the managing partner of Arctos’ Sports Partners, takes us inside the world of sports investing.
[This episode originally aired on March 1, 2021] We consider a critical question from Bain & Company's Global Private Equity Report.
On April 24, I joined the Spotlight On podcast for a conversation about the future of private equity. Naturally, we talked about the game-changing promise of generative AI, but I also sounded a note of caution. While we’ve seen remarkable enthusiasm and activity in deal sourcing operations and portfolio management, what we haven’t yet seen is the kind of deep impact that many are talking about and predicting. There’s progress along many fronts but no silver bullet in sight just yet.
What you’re about to hear is a lightly edited excerpt of our conversation, in which I offer my latest thinking on how to navigate this experimental phase, including how we’re using generative AI here at Bain. I’d like to thank my host, Nick Barton of the Barton Partnership, for such a thought-provoking exchange.
Amid a turbulent year, is the industry poised for more of the same or a sudden turnaround?
Read Bain's 2025 Midyear Private Equity Report here.
Register for Bain's Private Equity Midyear Report 2025 Webinar on July 16 here.
[This episode originally aired on December 7, 2023] Today on the show, I have a lively conversation with Ashby Monk, the executive director of the Stanford Research Initiative on Long Term Investing. Ashby studies the inner workings of pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations — in short all of those LPs that sit somewhere in between the public and private sectors.
“That means that they are optimizing for things that are not entirely evident to just the casual observer,” Ashby says.
In this episode of Dry Powder, I ask Ashby to take us inside the $140 trillion universe of long-term investing and help us understand what exactly these organizations are optimizing for.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series on LinkedIn, follow me here.
This past December, I joined the M&A Science Podcast for a wide ranging interview about my 30 year career at Bain and the evolution of the private equity industry. My host did a superb job of walking us through the pivotal moments when the industry was forced to reinvent itself. In this current moment of uncertainty, the interview serves as a timely reminder of how quickly the industry can change — and is often forced to. What you're about to hear are a few excerpts from that interview, lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
I'd like to thank my host, Kison Patel, for the opportunity to share this timely conversation with our audience, and if you'd like to listen to the full interview, you can visit the M&A Science Podcast here.
We ask a leading provider of NAV loans about the enthusiasm and the skepticism around a growing trend.
In the second of our two-part series, we ask the Co-CEO of Hamilton Lane how they’re building an analytics engine that can serve both institutional and individual investors.
Hamilton Lane's Co-CEO takes us inside the rapid buildout of private market infrastructure.
In part two of our infrastructure series, we take a closer look at which sub-sectors are heating up, and how opportunities across energy and tech are converging.
Infrastructure deals are evolving, and private capital could play a pivotal role in the space.
Today on Dry Powder, we’re sharing a live recording from this year’s NEXUS conference in Orlando, Florida. My guest is Brian Bernasek, Co-Head of Americas Corporate Private Equity at Carlyle. We had a wide-ranging discussion about his market outlook for 2025, how he thinks about sector expertise at scale, the rising cost of alpha, and, of course, AI.
Our conversation touches on many of the key themes in Bain’s Global Private Equity Report, which we've linked to below, but Brian is one of those rare investors who can actually bring these themes to life.
Read Bain's 2025 Global Private Equity Report, here.
We cover three overarching themes from this year’s report, including clear evidence of an industry recovery, continuing challenges for GP’s, and strategies for winning the future.
Register for our Global Private Equity Report 2025 Webinar on March 13,here.
Read the full 2025 Global Private Equity Report, here.
We asked the managing director of Insight Partners how they invest across venture capital, growth equities and buyouts.
Register for our Global Private Equity Report 2025 Webinar on March 13,here.
Jim Coulter reflects on the legacy of his co-founder, David Bonderman, while asking whether the industry still makes room for unorthodox investors like him today.
In an industry where management change out rates hover around 50%, GTCR stands out as a remarkable exception.
From strawberry-picking to brick-laying, automation is revolutionizing unexpected corners of the workforce.
With inflation easing and public markets on the rise, the key questions are whether the Federal Reserve has overcorrected and how the new administration will impact the path to recovery.
A few big ticket deals have raised hopes of a rebound, but investors are still wondering when deal activity will return to normal, or what normative will even look like in the coming year.
In part two of our interview series, we explore how generative AI is prompting a radical reconsideration of how software is priced and deployed at scale.
Hg’s head of research shares some of the more remarkable use cases of generative AI and what they reveal about the future of work.
Healthcare IT has the potential to not only make the industry more efficient but also to revolutionize patient care.
In part two of our interview series, we explore how private equity can continue expanding its global footprint and what it will take to thrive in a multipolar world.
The co-managing partner of Bain Capital takes us inside of their remarkably diversified portfolio, where venture capital, private equity, real estate, and credit don't just coexist—they actively reinforce each other.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, you can follow me here.
Host Hugh MacArthur takes the hot seat in this special episode about the future of private equity.
You can access the original, full-length interview here.
If you'd like to stay up to date with Hugh's weekly posts on LinkedIn, follow him here.
[This series originally aired on November 21, 2019] Absent certain market conditions, buyer beware.
[This episode originally aired on March 21, 2023] As margins shrink, private equity houses are rediscovering the vital importance of operational due diligence.
A small, but growing cohort of investors are taking mid-sized companies private and driving substantial margin improvements.
Deals and exits are flat, and fundraising is down, but the real story is the tension beneath the numbers.
For a deeper discussion, join our live webinar on July 9.
Read Bain's 2024 Midyear Private Equity Report, here.
Karen Khalaf, one of Bain's leading experts in sovereign wealth funds, explains how a little knowledge can go a long way on the fundraising trail.
Jim Strang, chairman of HgCapital Trust, joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of the private equity industry.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series on LinkedIn, follow me here.
In part two of our series, Thoma Bravo’s leading enterprise software investor explains how they continue to find exit opportunities and source new deals.
We ask one of Thoma Bravo’s leading enterprise software investors why 2023 could be a “significantly better” year for deal making.
Private equity firms are developing measures of success that go far beyond carbon footprints.
We ask Bain’s leading macro expert about the “last mile” of rate cuts in the US, and whether Europe has miles to go.
We seem to have entered a period of eerie calm, but will it last?
Read Bain & Company’s 2024 Global Private Equity Report here.
View my webinar on March 19th here.
In part two of our interview, we explore the principles and strategies that enable the industry’s top-performing GP’s to deliver persistent returns.
Tom Callahan, CEO of NASDAQ Private Market, argues that today’s liquidity crisis could mark a turning point for secondaries markets.
Nigel Dawn, senior managing director at Evercore, explains how GPs and LPs are discovering new tools and techniques to finance deals.
We asked two of Bain’s leading experts on commercial excellence to take us to the cutting edge of investor relations.
As inflation trends downward, should investors plan for a lower interest rate environment in 2024 — and even the possibility of deflation?
Today on the show, I have a lively conversation with Ashby Monk, the executive director of the Stanford Research Initiative on Long Term Investing. Ashby studies the inner workings of pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations — in short all of those LPs that sit somewhere in between the public and private sectors.
“That means that they are optimizing for things that are not entirely evident to just the casual observer,” Ashby says.
In this episode of Dry Powder, I ask Ashby to take us inside the $140 trillion universe of long-term investing and help us understand what exactly these organizations are optimizing for.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series on LinkedIn, follow me here.
In part two of our interview series, we explore Vista’s approach to AI and how it connects to the company’s founding story.
We ask Vista’s CEO how he continues to do deals at an astonishing clip, despite the challenging conditions of today’s market.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series on LinkedIn, follow me here.
In part two of our fund-raising series, we’ll dig into the tools, tactics, and technologies that enable general partners to tailor their pitches to key decision makers within institutions.
As competition for capital intensifies, a one-size-fits-all approach to institutional investors will no longer suffice.
We ask the founding team at Greater Share about their intriguing new approach to philanthropic funding and how they’ve already garnered support from some of the world’s leading GPs.
In part two of our macro series, we explore the risks and rewards of public-private partnerships.
We ask Karen Harris, the managing director of Bain’s Macro Trends Group, whether the economy could emerge from this period of rate hikes unscathed.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series on LinkedIn, follow me here.
In part two of our interview series, we ask Steve how he recruits and retains a team of all-star players.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, you can follow me here.
The longtime chairman and now senior advisor at Bain capital explains why he is “as excited” to be involved in the private equity industry today as he was 30 years ago.
If you'd like to stay up to date with my weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, you can follow me here.
In the second part of our interview series with WCAS, we explore how they “co-cover” the healthcare and tech industries, together.
We ask Welsh Carson how they identify the next generation of leaders within the firm and how they extend those practices to their wider ecosystem of partners and advisors.
I've also launched a weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, which you can follow here.
In such a severely capital-constrained environment, you need to give your LP’s confidence that you’ll be able to deliver real results over the next five years.
Read our latest research on the fundraising slowdown and how top private equity firms are learning to sell, here.
I've also started a weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, which you can follow here.
Deal activity, exits and fundraising are all sharply down, but the fear of a recession is also subsiding. So what’s holding investors back?
Read Bain's Private Equity Midyear Report 2023, here.
You can also find our latest research on the fundraising slowdown and how top private equity firms are learning to sell, here.
I've also started a weekly series of posts on LinkedIn, which you can follow here.
In part two of our conversation with Ian Charles, we reflect on a career of consummate innovation in the secondaries market.
Ian Charles, the managing partner of Arctos’ Sports Partners, takes us inside the world of sports investing.
Christian Sinding, the CEO and managing partner of EQT Group, joins us for our first live recording. We explore when deal markets will finally stir to life and how EQT takes intelligent risks in a period of overwhelming of uncertainty.
We asked Bain’s leading macro expert whether the dollar’s status as a global reserve currency is really under threat.
Karen Harris, the head of Bain’s Macro Trends Group, returns to the show for a conversation on interest rates, bank runs and an unusual mix of economic indicators.
We consider whether the launch of a few tokenized funds amounts to an interesting experiment on the blockchain or the beginning of a powerful secular trend.
If you'd like to learn more about the democratization of private equity, I recommend you listen to our interviews with the CEOs of Titanbay, Moonfare and Opto Investments.
I've also started a series of weekly posts on LinkedIn, which you can follow here.
We asked the CEO of Opto Investments to take us inside their eye-opening series A round and why they’re pursuing Registered Investment Advisors with a laser-like focus.
If you haven’t heard our interviews with the CEOs of Moonfare and Titanbay, I highly recommend you go back and listen to those episodes as well.
I've also started a series of weekly posts on LinkedIn. If you're interested in receiving those updates, follow my LinkedIn profile, here.
We asked the CEO of Moonfare what it takes to get ordinary investors up to speed and investing in private equity with confidence.
If you haven't heard my interview with another early mover in this space, the CEO of Titanbay, I highly recommend you go back and listen to those episodes as well.
I've also started a series of weekly posts on LinkedIn. If you're interested in receiving those updates, follow my LinkedIn profile, here.
Too many business leaders lack a clear and granular understanding of profitability, but a few organizations are visualizing profits in startling detail.
As margins shrink, private equity houses are rediscovering the vital importance of operational due diligence.
Deal activity was on track for another record-setting year, until the wheels came off.
Read the full 2023 Global Private Equity Report, below:
https://www.bain.com/insights/topics/global-private-equity-report/
Behind the scenes at Davos, attendees were coming to terms with a fracturing world, a cascade of risks and, despite it all, a silver lining.
Today on Dry Powder, Karen Harris, managing director of Bain's Macro Trends Group, shares her key insights from Davos and how private equity investors are dealing with the emergent risks and opportunities of a multipolar world.
Listen to her previous appearances on Dry Powder, below:
Macro Risks: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
Macro Risks: Keep It Simple
Private equity firms are racing to build out their Web3 capabilities, from deal sourcing to diligence to the bleeding edge of tokenization fund management.
Further Reading:
For Digital Assets, Private Markets Offer the Greatest Opportunities
Investors have been funding a massive build out of Web3 infrastructure, despite the turmoil over the past year.
Further Reading
Web3 Could Rewrite the Rules of User Identity
Snap Chart: How Much Is Web3 Disrupting Your Industry?
In part two of our interview with the CEO of Titanbay, we discuss the regulatory and behavioral hurdles that have prevented private equity from accessing roughly half of the world's sources of capital — and to what extent digital platforms can lower those barriers to entry.
We asked the CEO of Titanbay how digital platforms could open up private equity deals to a whole new class of investors.
Hg’s Matthew Brockman describes the technological trends that could reshape the workplace for decades to come.
Hg’s Matthew Brockman explains how sector specialization can deliver surprisingly stable returns.
A raft of new public policies will not only reshape portfolios, they could also transform the way private equity houses run and grow their businesses on the ground.
The debate around ESG is heating up, but it may shed light on the future of ESG investing.
Further Reading
Closing the ESG Measurement Gap in Private Equity
Decarbonization: How Private Equity Can Make It Work
Private Equity Investors Debate the Best Path Forward on ESG
Businesses Urge SEC to Consider Mergers in Climate-Disclosure Rule
Faced with an unprecedented confluence of macro risks, we asked Bain’s leading macro expert to game out the possible outcomes for the global economy, from best to worst case scenarios.
In Bain’s 2022 Midyear Private Equity Report, we help you plan for scenarios, not certainty.
Read the full report here: https://www.bain.com/insights/shifting-gears-private-equity-report-midyear-2022/
Translate technical jargon into actionable recommendations.
Learn more about Bain's Tech Insights Group here: https://www.bain.com/industry-expertise/private-equity/tech-due-diligence/
You don't need the keys to the source code to learn an awful lot about a business from the outside, in.
Learn more about Bain's Tech Insights Group here: https://www.bain.com/industry-expertise/private-equity/tech-due-diligence/
Discover how leading private equity firms are making their ESG agendas more measurable and ultimately more manageable.
ESG awareness has gone global. Learn how leading private equity firms are now springing into action.
We consider the intensifying competition for tech, the rise of growth equity investing and the critical importance of sector expertise.
Read the full report here: bain.com/privateequityreport
By just about any measure, private equity set a remarkable new standard during 2021.
Read the full report here: bain.com/privateequityreport
Track inflationary pressures across the portfolio and help management teams combat shared threats together.
Private equity firms must look beyond their cost cutting playbook and develop a pricing strategy that can weather an inflationary storm.
You can’t be good at everything in such a vast and competitive deal space, but you can focus.
The industry has not only bounced back, it has tripled in size.
Read the full report here: Private Equity’s Wild First-Half Ride
One of Europe’s leading tech investors describes how Hg adopts the latest breakthroughs in advanced analytics, AI, and machine learning “as fast as we possibly can.”
One of Europe’s leading tech investors describes how Hg drilled down from industry to sector to sub-sector, and discovered its “sweet spot” for investing.
Your value creation plan is the key to building a strong team, setting clear goals and delivering results.
Read the full report here: https://www.bain.com/insights/talent-decisions-global-private-equity-report-2021/
We consider a conceptual shift that has enormous implications for how the public and private sectors work together.
We take stock of a remarkable year of changes to the healthcare sector, fueled by innumerable acts of “healthcare heroism.”
We consider a critical question from this year’s Global Private Equity Report.
Read the full report here.
Bain’s inaugural report on the state of the industry examines how leading companies are investing in AI and automation, the hybrid cloud, the Internet of Things, flexible supply chains, virtual sales and other tools to increase resilience and accelerate growth.
Read the full 2020 tech report here: https://www.bain.com/insights/topics/technology-report/
Bain’s inaugural report on the state of the industry examines how leading companies are investing in AI and automation, the hybrid cloud, the Internet of Things, flexible supply chains, virtual sales and other tools to increase resilience and accelerate growth.
Read the full 2020 tech report here: https://www.bain.com/insights/topics/technology-report/
Between video calls and advanced analytics, just how much of the deal pipeline can go digital?
Deal data — truly credible, granular deal data — will change the way the PE industry works.
Learn about the tools — and power tools — that can help diligence teams model every moving part of a deal.
The margin equation keeps breaking down. Piece it back together again with integrated due diligence.
Go deeper, in part two of this series on advanced analytics. We'll explore the frontiers of the field, its technological breakthroughs and breakdowns.