Jamal Ismayilov

#Hargreaves_Lansdown Hargreaves Lansdown backed the £5.4 billion bid for the FTSE 100 fund manager today from a private equity consortium, a deal that will end its time as a listed company. The Bristol-based finance firm has been listed in London since 2007. It said today that the final offer valued its shares at 1140p in cash and would include a 30p per share dividend for the financial year which ended on 30 June. Compared to the Hargreaves Lansdown share price before the approach was first made in April, the price is at a premium of over 54%. The consortium is made up of CVC, Nordic Capital and ADIA. Hargreaves Lansdown is named after its founders – Peter Hargreaves and Stephen Lansdown – who set it up as an investment tip sheet. It now runs a state-of-the-art trading platform from which clients can run their own portfolios and pensions. https://lnkd.in/dKpizupy

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#goldman_sachs Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s alternative investment platform Goldman Sachs Alternatives announced an agreement to acquire UK environmental risk reduction specialist Adler & Allan from private investment advisory firm Sun European Partners. Founded in 1926, Harrogate-based Adler & Allan provides environmental risk reduction services, supporting organizations in managing, improving, maintaining, and upgrading their critical infrastructure across the entire asset lifecycle across its 3 core divisions, Environmental Services, Energy Services, and Water Services. The company helps clients detect and identify environmental risks, providing risk mitigation services to reduce the prospect of litigation, fines and bad publicity, in addition to reducing threats to the environment. https://lnkd.in/dDRCDYV2

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Last Wednesday at SuperReturn Middle East Namit Chugh and I had a freewheeling chat on the role Middle Eastern capital could play in emerging markets. Having lived and worked in the UAE for half a decade as a fund manager and pitched to several local LPs across two fundraising roadshows my key takeaway is that Middle Eastern LPs are conservative - they believe in capital preservation even when allocating to alternative assets class. Which is why ME allocations have typically found their way to the developed US and EU markets. One also notices that ME investments into new age businesses in India typically comprise large cheques (~USD100Mn) in late stage (Series D, E, F) "startups" ostensibly in the belief that later stage investments were safer bets. The ME is gradually turning the spotlight inwards to provide an impetus to its non-oil related fledgling private sector (eg KSA, Oman) and to emerging economies in the MENA region. But, I don't see the ME countries venturing into South Asia and SE Asia. Isn't this a missed opportunity given that India and some SE Asian countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines etc are together going to drive a major proportion of global GDP growth (as per the World Bank)? Hopefully, ME capital will wizen up and increase its India exposure but not only with few large late-stage cheques (which are also necessary for the growth of the ecosystem) but with several, and frequent, small and medium sized investments, across funds and startups, across stages. This will enable them to get to know the Indian market better and create a form of reciprocal symbiosis where their capital will benefit Indian startups and they could get dual returns in the form of pecuniary returns as well as the ability to tap India's R&D and innovation for the ME markets.

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Really enjoyed being on the panel at Private Equity Insights conference in London last week discussing best sectors for Private Equity going forward. PE investments are long term and it’s important for PE to invest in sectors with long term positive trends. Operational improvement is key for PE managers to deliver best returns and hence specialization is a key trend we can observe in the industry. In our selection of managers, Cubera Private Equity focuses on their sector expertise and ability to improve businesses.   #privateequity

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Highlights from a recent Mckinsey report on M&A trends: - Global M&A activity dropped 16% in 2023, but a jump in activity in Q4 signals optimism returning to the market. -"...latest analysis of ...the world’s largest global public companies—found that those making more than two small to midsized deals annually over ten years through 2022 delivered a median excess total shareholder return of 2.3 percent. This programmatic approach outperformed all other M&A strategies, including organic growth, which actually destroyed value in the same period" #M&A

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Marks and Spencer has seen a remarkable transformation since Stuart Machin took over as CEO. But there's one change I’d love to see... Once a beloved British institution, M&S endured two decades of decline, but its seen a dramatic turnaround over the past two years. Their Food Hall has always been known for quality, but they've recently made a strong shift towards sustainable packaging, replacing plastic with paper/cardboard for products like rice (why does rice and pasta need to be wrapped in plastic??) They even have a policy where office-based staff spend at least one week each year working on the shop floor to understand their customers better. The biggest surprise, however, has been their clothing range, now appealing to men in their 20s and 30s (great-fitting, affordable corduroy chinos and cashmere btw guys!) This year, M&S posted its highest profits in almost 30 years! No surprise given the changes we’ve seen. But here’s my one request: Stuart Machin would you consider making M&S the first major retailer to offer mineral water exclusively in glass bottles, with a reward system for customers who return or recycle them? For those of us trying to reduce plastic waste and avoid microplastics, we need better alternatives for bottled water. P.S. Stuart Machin I’d love to have you on my podcast to discuss your career and M&S’s turnaround under your leadership 🙏

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An excellent course with INSEAD Executive Education to support professional development.

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Check out my piece in the World Economic Journal on the potential of impact investing in emerging markets!

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Yesterday I went to the LSE to hear Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School, talk about his excellent new book May Contain Lies (How stories, statistics and studies exploit our biases — and what we can do about it). A timely message on why misinformation is a problem that impacts us all and why we often fall foul. Returning to the building where a few years ago I chewed my pencil navigating a masters in behavioural science was a nostalgic pleasure, especially when followed by a couple of pints at the George IV. It was in these lecture theatres and bars that many assumptions were challenged, and different views aired. A curiosity fuelled to test alternative explanations. Last night’s event was hosted by the Financial Markets Group, a leading centre of research into the stability of finance and the sources of systemic risk. And so as Alex talked about unconscious bias, groupthink and of the deceptive quest for evidence and statistics to prove our own point I couldn’t help but think of the banks, regulators and industry bodies who continue to look at the risk landscape in the same limited way. And how this can imperil their own resilience, performance and future, and from there the stability of the wider financial system. Amid the comforting balm of homo economicus, of linear cause and effect, simplistic measurement, incentives and sanction. The illusion of control. #behaviouralscience #behavioralscience #systemicrisk #riskculture #behavioural risk #MayContainLies #IllusionOfControl Alex Edmans Daniel Ferreira Emilia Rivolta

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#Aegon Aegon has strengthened its largest workplace pension default fund with enhanced ESG integration and private markets investment offerings. The 700,000 members currently invested in the £12bn universal balanced collection fund will benefit from improved returns, value for money and a wider range of investment opportunities as a result of the transformation, set to take place from Q3 this year. The fund, available to investors in Aegon’s ‘Retirement Choices’, ‘One Retirement’ and some other platform products, will offer a bespoke solution managed by three asset managers – with private market allocations housed within long-term asset fund (LTAF) structures (subject to regulatory approval). https://lnkd.in/d2RvqHmX

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The dynamics within private equity are shifting, with investment and operating teams increasingly working together to maximise portfolio value. At Fortius Partners, Simon and I anticipated this evolution when we merged Citius and Altius in early 2023. We built a core team of independent operating partners to support investment teams and operating leaders in delivering tangible results. In our first year, we led 14 transformation engagements; this year, that number has more than doubled, with 31 successfully completed. With expertise across sales transformation, pricing strategy, and post-merger integration, Fortius Partners is well-positioned to help investment teams and operating partners drive growth and operational excellence within their portfolios. #PrivateEquity, #DealFlow, #SalesTransformation, #PricingStrategy, #PostMergerIntegration, #GrowthStrategy, #TransformationExcellence, #PortfolioPerformance, #InvestmentStrategies, Fortius Partners Simon Andreas Hofmann #OperatingPartner

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Another week, another conference! We're delighted to sponsor a roundtable at the 7th Private Equity Europe Forum, where we'll explore strategies for reimagining value creation through operational optimisation. If you're attending the Forum, join Table 1 during the breakout session! David Page and I look forward to seeing you there! #PrivateEquity #InvestmentStrategies #ValueCreation #Growth #SPV #FundManagement #PrivateEquityEuropeForum

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Absolutely loved speaking with the team at Africa's Big Switch on the challenges and solutions to building and navigating the African Investment Ecosystem. For context Africa's Big Switch is a podcast that aims to identify solutions to complex problems on the African continent including Climate change, Homelessness, Poverty and Political Instability. Discuss with the team of young brilliant minds was inspiring and I truly can’t wait to see where the future takes you guys! Emerging Africa Group #EmergingMarkets #VentureCapital #ImpactInvestment #CorporateFinance

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If anyone would like hear my thoughts on stressed and distressed acquisitions please book your place on the link below or give Lizzy Tindall a shout

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I'm pleased we've launched our latest Alexa Capital report "Investing in the Energy Storage Revolution" offering a deep dive into this fast-growing sector. We've leveraged our insights from active private capital raising and M&A to help public markets investors understand dynamics. A few quick highlights: - The report analyses how by stacking storage revenue streams, investors can optimise profitability and mitigate risks associated with market fluctuations - We also explore how growth in this market has been driven by technology advances, decreasing costs and robust policy support, and a perspective on the future outlook - We also provide an analysis of upstream and midstream value chain elements (incl. minerals extraction, processing, manufacturing and assembly), and downstream activities such as recycling and repurposing. Battery storage continues to be a critical building block of the energy transition, where Alexa Capital deploys industry insights and experience to mobilise capital solutions. #EnergyStorage #EnergyTransition #AlexaCapital #EnergyStorage #EnergyInnovation #CleanEnergy #Cleantech #ResearchReport #PublicMarkets #AlexaCapital

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If you're attending the Global Secondaries Summit, make sure to reach out to Keyhaven partner Teddy Mouawad who is speaking about capital raising and liquidity, two important topics in today's market!

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Nuveen welcomes Obinna Eke as Head of CLO Capital Markets and Structuring We’re thrilled to share that Obinna Eke has joined Nuveen’s Global Fixed Income team as Head of CLO Capital Markets and Structuring. In this role, Obi will lead in managing CLO issuance, capital markets activity and structuring for all Nuveen managed CLOs. We’re excited to have you on the team, Obi! As we shared in our recent 2H 2024 outlook, collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) are one of our highest conviction fixed income investments, offering an alternative source of yield and diversification in a portfolio. The CLO market has seen strong growth in the first half of 2024 as investors seek to diversify alternative allocations. In addition to the sector’s fundamentals remaining solid, institutional demand continues to be strong, and individual investors are also showing increased interest in the sector. To learn more about the opportunities we’re seeing within the CLO market, check out our 2H 2024 Alternative Credit Insights: https://bit.ly/3SWCHZf

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Positively surprising in spite of all of the market challenges, it seems like there is recovering interest in venture capital as several fund allocators across Asia and the Middle East have asked me recently about events in the US to meet high quality and high potential venture capital fund managers and sophisticated long-term investors and operators in the asset class. It seems like the Allocate event last week in Newport Beach, California is noted as one of those top #quality events by various attendees. #alternativeinvestments #venturecapital #events #institutionalinvestors #california #allocators #limitedpartners #capitalmarkets #fundmanagers #middleeast #asiapacific #lps #privatemarkets #trackrecord #emergingmanagers

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Another fascinating read from my colleague Henry McVey and team that highlights the exponential growth of the alternatives industry over the last few decades. At KKR, we expect it to even surpass the current estimate that this industry will reach $24 trillion by 2028, and Henry highlights the key reasons for this, including the growing need for private capital to fund the massive investment needs in both existing and new infrastructure to support the mega trends of digitalization and energy transition. While the alternatives industry has a bright future, the report highlights how this must be managed by a commitment to disciplined portfolio construction, including the timely deployment of capital: no such thing in private investing as “timing the market”! For more insights, read the full report here: https://go.kkr.com/4gGI3BY

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