Qualitas Funds’ Investment Director, João Pita Rua, participated in IPEM Cannes 2025, one of the most prominent and influential conferences in Europe for the private equity sector, where more than 1,300 international firms analysed the current macroeconomic environment, as well as the challenges and opportunities that the new landscape offers investors.
This year, the event also included IPEM Wealth, a new format designed to support the democratization of private markets, with a special focus on traditional wealth management and the dynamic world of alternative investments.
In an interview with Finance Community during the event, our Investment Director emphasized that “when you invest in alternative assets in general, and in private equity in particular, every year is a good one,” but 2025 offers very notable opportunities. “It will undoubtedly be a very interesting year for private equity investments”.
Looking back, João pointed out that “a lot of transactional activity has been delayed in terms of exits and divestments. A significant number of managers have had difficulties raising capital and have returned money to their investors slower than expected. This context allows us to enter a bit later, with high visibility on the evolution of the portfolio”.
The Investment Director also highlighted the recent launch of Qualitas Funds’ new business strategy, its NAV financing fund, at a very favourable market moment: “Many managers have top-quality companies in their portfolios to which they would like to continue providing capital to help them grow, but they are limited, as the fund is already highly invested, at around 85-90%. Having the opportunity to obtain capital that is much cheaper than equity and put it to work at a return typical of equity is very interesting for their funds and to continue to grow their portfolios”.
Finally, João stressed that the opportunity to attend IPEM is “fantastic”, as the conference serves as a major meeting point “with various European private equity managers with whom we continue to build our value proposition as a strategic partner focused on the lower end of the European market, our traditional segment”.
The IPEM 2025 edition highlighted how this year promises to be a turning point for private equity investments after several cycles of relative slowdown, in line with the new European macroeconomic environment.
Watch the full video interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mVgpJBtOls