Date:
18 November 2026 09:30 to 15:30
Venue:
Farmers’ & Fletchers’ Hall, 3 Cloth Street, Barbican, London EC1A 7LD
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Chairperson:
Peter Wallach, Director of Pensions, Merseyside Pension Fund
Details:
09.00 Registration and Coffee
09.30 Keynote Opening: A plenary session on the macro, geopolitical and policy forces shaping private markets, where the opportunity for returns looks strongest today.
We’ll look at how the picture is evolving across the asset classes, from the traditional return drivers to newer sources of opportunity, including the growing weight of capital being directed toward UK infrastructure, housing and the energy transition under the Mansion House Accord and the new government’s growth agenda.
10.00 Session 1: The Symbiotic Relationship between Private Equity and Private Credit
Key themes:
• What are some of the new innovations in private markets/private equity which bring both risks and opportunities for LPs?
• Is Private Equity becoming too expensive?
• Is there a Private Credit Bubble now and how will this interact with the Private Equity markets?
• How are things changing in Private markets today to provide more liquidity when needed for Institutional Investors?
11.15 Tea/Coffee
11.45 Session 2: Private Markets & Local Investing
• Can private markets and local investment provide realistic opportunities offering the potential to support long-term returns, diversification and investment in the real economy?
• Against the backdrop of the Mansion House reforms what are the key developments across private market asset classes?
• What are the opportunities and challenges associated with investing in infrastructure, growth businesses and regional development?
• What practical issues should institutional investors consider, including governance, risks objectives and costs/fees before considering local investing?
13.00 Lunch
14.00 Session 3: Investors Round Table Discussions
We will hold a number of roundtables as below, with delegates able to join a stream of interest to them:
1. DC Pension Scheme Focus – Practical insight on investing in private markets today. Risk, opportunities and how best to implement for DC Schemes?
2. Private Equity – Still the largest single driver of institutional private markets growth – where do you look for above benchmark returns?
3. Private Credit – A maturing, fast-growing allocation that has also drawn real scrutiny over the past year; we’ll look past the headlines at valuation practices, regulatory response (including the Bank of England’s system-wide exploratory scenario) and where genuine risk sits versus noise. A ‘bubble’ or still offering value?
4. Infrastructure (Equity & Debt) – tipped for strong risk-adjusted returns, and now central to government thinking on energy transition and grid investment. Should institutional investors now be considering this?
5. Real Estate — Still the largest overall private markets allocation for most institutions, with housing an increasingly prominent sub-theme.
6. Natural Resources / Real Assets — a smaller but fast-maturing allocation for diversification and inflation protection.
16.00 Close of conference, followed by Drinks Reception