In Alternative Views, Private Equity Wire® goes behind closed doors with those in the know to get the latest on private markets. In this episode, we discuss liquidity and NAV to share price discounts with Richard Hickman, managing director of HarbourVest Global Private Equity (HVPE), the listed private equity fund managed by HarbourVest Partners.
Listed funds across the UK continue to be at the centre of debates over discounts to their net asset value. In February activist hedge fund Saba Capital, an advocate for narrowing these discounts, disclosed a 5% stake in HVPE. The fund’s discount currently sits at 29.9%.
Hickman discusses liquidity during periods of market volatility (1:00); investor preferences for evergreens versus listed funds (3:34); and the operational challenges of each for LPs (5:05); the appeal of listed PE funds compared to other public vehicles (7:05); why private equity has typically outperformed public markets (8:45); managing the NAV to share price discount (10:54); whether these discounts are inevitable (14:36); and criticism from activist shareholders (15:49).
