Why Generali Partnered Rather Than Built in Secondaries | Marco Busca | New York Forum

Marco Busca, head of indirect private debt at Generali Investments, talks with Adam Smallman at the PEI Private Credit New York Forum about the firm's secondaries partnership with Partners Group, roughly a year in. He explains why Generali chose to combine capabilities with an established manager instead of outsourcing or building alone, and where he sees the pairing adding value through origination, a double layer of underwriting and alignment with the insurance capital behind the strategy. He also argues that secondaries are more than buying primaries at a discount, citing diversification, a shorter J-curve and the absence of blind pool risk, and describes a barbell approach between LP-led

1. Generali chose to merge capabilities with an established secondaries player rather than outsource or build alone
2. The firm cites origination, a double layer of underwriting and insurance-capital alignment as sources of value
3. Busca argues secondaries offer diversification, a shorter J-curve and no blind pool risk, beyond buying primaries at a discount
4. Competition is concentrated in plain vanilla transactions while complex deals require more structuring capability, and the firm runs a barbell between LP-led and GP-led exposure