At Qualitas Funds, we brought together representatives from various endowments and foundations at the Financial Club Genova to discuss how private equity can help strengthen the financial stability of these institutions. In collaboration with Eloy González de la Peña, wealth advisor at iCapital, the event titled “Challenges and Opportunities: The Role of Private Capital in Institutional Portfolios”, explored how alternative investments can help build more resilient and diversified portfolios to support the growth of institutional wealth.
As Eric Halverson, Founding Partner of Qualitas Funds, summarised, the event focused on “how to build a resilient portfolio in a world of constant change and ongoing uncertainty.” Meanwhile, Sergio García, also Founding Partner of the Spanish manager, stressed the importance of “keeping the long-term mindset,” with an investment strategy designed to grow portfolios which “meet each institution’s foundational goals.”
Eloy González de la Peña highlighted the main concern of “protecting assets from inflation,” given that, due to their perpetual nature, these institutions will inevitably face events such as wars or pandemics for which they must be prepared.
“The only way to protect yourself from the economic cycle,” Eloy continued, “is to invest in an orderly manner.” To that end, the iCapital advisor emphasised the importance of working with a trusted manager who understands your objectives and helps you achieve them. This last point is essential in his view, since “the illiquid world offers significant opportunities for those with strong investment criteria.”
Likewise, Víctor Romero, Partner at Qualitas Funds, encouraged moving from a more traditional portfolio towards one that incorporates alternative assets such as private equity. In any case, Romero added, “it is important to set clear goals for what we want to achieve with the portfolio and manage it proactively.”
To conclude, Emma Hernanz, Investor Relations Director at Qualitas Funds, presented funds of funds as an efficient way to invest in private equity. “These vehicles enable significant diversification by investing in 150 to 200 companies, with broad diversification across strategies, countries, sectors, and currencies.” Their great advantage is that historically no fund of funds has lost capital. As for the Qualitas Funds vehicles, all of their vintages have outperformed their public market equivalents.
In summary, the event organised by Qualitas Funds in collaboration with iCapital brought private markets and private equity closer to endowments and foundations, investment alternatives that are less known to traditional investors and that contribute significantly to building resilient portfolios that are better protected against the various economic cycles and the uncertainty that are inherent in these institutions’ long-term goals.