Mosaic, Not Monolith: Why No One Can Actually Buy the Private Markets Benchmark - Andrea Auerbach

Andrea Auerbach of Cambridge Associates joins Brandon Sedloff at the IPEM Private Markets Conference in Paris to discuss how private markets have fragmented from simple buyout strategies into an ecosystem of thousands of specialized managers. The conversation covers allocator alpha, manager due diligence, benchmark limitations, evergreen and semi-liquid fund structures, and emerging areas such as the lower middle market and independent sponsors.

1. Private markets have evolved over 30 years from simple buyout strategies into a fragmented ecosystem of thousands of specialized managers.
2. Headline benchmark returns do not reflect anyone's actual portfolio performance in private markets.
3. Manager due diligence can include behavioral tells, such as how teams handle underperforming assets and how they treat receptionists.
4. Evergreen and semi-liquid fund structures are reshaping capital deployment and creating new risks around shared assets and pricing pressure.