1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,000 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 2: I'm Barry Ridhlts. You're listening to Masters in Business on 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 2: Bloomberg Radio. My extra special guest today is Jean Eric Salata. 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 2: He is chair of the QT Group, the largest alternative 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,920 Speaker 2: manager outside of the US. They manage over three hundred 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 2: and sixteen billion dollars. Previously, he helped set up the 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 2: Bearings Private Equity Asia Group and built it into one 8 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 2: of Asia's premiere private equity platforms. With no further adoop, 9 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:52,840 Speaker 2: John Eric Salado, Welcome to Bloomberg. 10 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 3: Thank you, Barry. It's great to be here. It's great 11 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 3: to have you. 12 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 2: I've been looking forward to this conversation for a while. 13 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 2: Before we get to EQT, You've a really interesting background 14 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 2: and I want to dive into that a little bit. 15 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 2: You grow up in Chile, you go to the Wharton 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 2: School at University of Penn to get a bachelor's in 17 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 2: finance and economics. Was investing always the career plan? 18 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:20,479 Speaker 3: Well? 19 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 4: I yes, investing was always the career plan. That's not 20 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,960 Speaker 4: how I ended up in Asia, but the idea and 21 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 4: going to Wharton and becoming an investor was something I 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 4: always wanted to do since I was a young boy. 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 4: I remember reading a lot of biographies when I was 24 00:01:35,319 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 4: a kid of business people and being very intrigued by that. 25 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 4: I remember having my first paper delivery route when I 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:44,120 Speaker 4: was like ten or eleven years old and really enjoying 27 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 4: the idea of making money, and then actually started investing 28 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 4: that money as a young kid in the stock market 29 00:01:49,360 --> 00:01:52,040 Speaker 4: as well, and kind of understanding how that worked. And 30 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 4: then when I ended up at Wharton undergraduate and studying 31 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,760 Speaker 4: finance and management, I got very intrigued with global business 32 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 4: outside the US. I come from an international background. 33 00:02:03,080 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 3: My family. 34 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 4: We grew up in South America. My grandparents actually came 35 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 4: from Eastern Europe and were refugees that ended up in 36 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 4: South America. Some generation a generation, we've been moving around 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,079 Speaker 4: quite a bit. I always felt like I had a 38 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 4: quite a different perspective on life and the world than 39 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 4: a lot of the people I was at school with, 40 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 4: and so I was interested in pursuing that. And by 41 00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,080 Speaker 4: as luck would have it or fate would have it, 42 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 4: I ended up meeting my girlfriend at the time who's 43 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 4: now my wife, who's from Hong Kong, and I ended 44 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 4: up moving there. 45 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 3: Right after I graduated. 46 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 4: A year after I graduated from college and ended up 47 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:40,840 Speaker 4: really building my career in Asia as a result of that. 48 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 2: And that was Hong Kong before the handover, so Chile 49 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 2: Hong Kong. You started being as a consultants, end up 50 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 2: everywhere from Sydney to Boston and then back to Hong Kong. 51 00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 2: Tell us a little bit about that global experience. How 52 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 2: has that changed how you look at the world of investing. 53 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 4: Yeah, I sort of have always felt a little bit 54 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,600 Speaker 4: like an outsider in the way I look at things. 55 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:09,079 Speaker 4: I never felt like I was exactly part of the 56 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 4: community or the sort of the. 57 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 3: Consensus view of things. 58 00:03:14,600 --> 00:03:17,119 Speaker 4: I was always thinking about things a little bit more differently, 59 00:03:17,160 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 4: I guess given the background. I was always comparing things 60 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:21,840 Speaker 4: when I was growing up in the US, I was 61 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,799 Speaker 4: always comparing things in the US to the way things 62 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 4: were in Chile and saying, Oh, this is different or 63 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 4: that's different. Then when I moved to Hong Kong, I 64 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 4: had the same perspective. I was thinking, Wow, there's a 65 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 4: lot that I see happening all my friends working on 66 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 4: Wall Street or in private equity firms in the late 67 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 4: eighties early nineties, that's not yet happening here in Hong Kong. 68 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:39,960 Speaker 3: It felt like there was a gap. It felt like 69 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 3: there was a gap. 70 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 4: There, and that always intrigued me and got me motivated 71 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 4: and interested in thinking about starting something new that would 72 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 4: sort of try to take advantage of it, or take 73 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 4: advantage of that opportunity created by that gap. Of what 74 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 4: eventually made me coming to Asia, that's already happening in 75 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 4: the US, and that's sort of what led me to 76 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 4: eventually leave insulting, get into private equity in the early nineties, 77 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 4: which was really very early in Asian in in Asian 78 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,440 Speaker 4: context in the private equity industry, and from there sort 79 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 4: of to start building the business. 80 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 2: So you leave Bain was the next up AIG Global 81 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,440 Speaker 2: Investment there there? Did you help set up their pe 82 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 2: arm or was that already up and running. 83 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 4: No, that AIG was essentially an insurance business. 84 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 3: AIG. 85 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 4: Some of your listeners might recall Hank Greenberg, who's sort 86 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 4: of a legend really kind of started He actually didn't 87 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 4: start that business, but was really the founder that grew 88 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 4: the business beyond the founder CV Star's initial starting of 89 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:45,359 Speaker 4: the business in Shanghai of ball places, and that became 90 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 4: a large global insurance company. And in those days in Asia, 91 00:04:48,920 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 4: there really wasn't a private equity industry, but there were 92 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 4: insurance companies like AIG that had long dated liabilities and 93 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 4: they needed to find long dated assets, and so you 94 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 4: had stock market and fixed income and so on. But 95 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,039 Speaker 4: in the private markets there wasn't really a fund to 96 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 4: invest in per se, so they started making their own 97 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 4: investments off their balance sheet into companies to match their 98 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 4: long dated liabilities. And so it was really working for 99 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 4: AIG in their internal private equity group that got me 100 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 4: started in the industry. 101 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: Foundational experience at AIG, that's really in private equity. That's 102 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:23,640 Speaker 2: a sentence you don't hear of that often. 103 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:24,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. 104 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:25,719 Speaker 3: It was early days. 105 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 4: It was interesting because you know, the whole region was 106 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 4: really starting to boom. It was the golden period of globalization, 107 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 4: you know, with the emergence of not just China, but 108 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 4: Southeast Asia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Korea, all these markets were 109 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 Speaker 4: starting to really develop and industrialize and there was a 110 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,280 Speaker 4: lot of requirement for capital for growth, and so we 111 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 4: were really growth investors in those days, putting money to 112 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,280 Speaker 4: work behind companies and helping them to grow. 113 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:59,280 Speaker 2: And then you moved from investor to operator you as 114 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 2: executive president. You run finance for Shoeing Steel that's a 115 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 2: giant Hong Kong industrial What was that experience. 116 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 4: Like, Yeah, that actually that happened before I left to 117 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:12,280 Speaker 4: do the private exit, So it was vain then shoeing, 118 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 4: and then and then ai G. But the Shoeing experience, it's, uh, 119 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 4: it's a part of my background that is a little 120 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 4: bit different because it's really it's a family business that 121 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 4: is an industrial company, very traditionally run. It's actually my 122 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 4: wife's family business. So yeah, it's it's really uh, it 123 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 4: was a very different experience. 124 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:37,560 Speaker 1: I went from I can imagine, Yes, I went from 125 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: baning company, you know, sort of business schools down you know, 126 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,839 Speaker 1: everybody has similar backgrounds, very analytical, to the opposite end 127 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,160 Speaker 1: of the spectrum, which is it's a family business. 128 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 4: Everybody who's in management is related to each other. And 129 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 4: then uh, you know, you're making decisions based on sort 130 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 4: of traditional ways of doing things. 131 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,720 Speaker 2: But this isn't a small little family dry claian Er. 132 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 2: It's a big business, giant conglomerate. It was a. 133 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 4: Sizable business and it was a good experience for me 134 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 4: because it sort of helped me shape in the very 135 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 4: formative years of my career, an appreciation for both. 136 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 3: Sides of the spectrum. 137 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 4: On the one hand, you have the need to be analytical, rigorous, 138 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 4: understand global trends and sort of the way you look 139 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 4: at things as a business school student. On the other hand, 140 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 4: if you're going to do business in Asia, you have 141 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 4: to be a little more entrepreneurial. You have to listen 142 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 4: to your instinct. You have to be able to develop 143 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 4: relationships with people, because ultimately, the decision makers in that 144 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 4: part of the world, a lot of them have those 145 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 4: sorts of backgrounds, and so you need to be able 146 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 4: to understand how they think. And so that was a 147 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 4: very valuable experience during my formative years. But I kind 148 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 4: of came to the view that I didn't really want 149 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 4: to spend the rest of my career in that sort 150 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,320 Speaker 4: of a setup, and so I applied to business school, 151 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 4: and I got into business school. I got into Harvard 152 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,240 Speaker 4: Business School actually, and I was about to start at Harvard. 153 00:08:00,440 --> 00:08:04,600 Speaker 4: I literally was there registered. I'm actually in the picture book, 154 00:08:04,960 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 4: ready to go. And that's when I got the job 155 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,679 Speaker 4: offer to come back and work for this private equity 156 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 4: division of AIG, which I decided ultimately that's really what 157 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 4: I wanted to do rather go back to school again, 158 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 4: having gone to undergraduate for a business degree already, and 159 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 4: so I decided to defer my business school go back 160 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,680 Speaker 4: to work in Asia in private equity, and ultimately I 161 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:30,720 Speaker 4: actually never ended up really coming back to school. 162 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 2: So after AIG, you helped launch a regional Asian private 163 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 2: equity program for Bearing Private Equity Partners, a UK based bank. Right, yeah, 164 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 2: I have the timeline, right, So I'm fascinated nineteen ninety seven. 165 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,079 Speaker 2: What was the investment landscape in Asia like in the nineties, 166 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:56,559 Speaker 2: Was that a very underappreciated set of opportunities or had 167 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 2: people started to sniff out, hey, this area is going 168 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: to be boom. 169 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,319 Speaker 4: It was a very very un volatile period actually, if 170 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,320 Speaker 4: you recall was going on at the time. So two 171 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 4: things happened in nineteen ninety five. Nick Leeson, this is 172 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:13,760 Speaker 4: just around the time that I was joining Bearing Private Equity. 173 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 4: Nick Leeson, who was a name that some of your 174 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:19,720 Speaker 4: listeners mare may recognize, others may not. He brought down 175 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 4: this three hundred. 176 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 3: Year old broke Bearings back. 177 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 4: He broke the bank out of Singapore actually trading Japanese 178 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,960 Speaker 4: stock futures and kind of covering up his losses, which 179 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:30,680 Speaker 4: eventually brought the. 180 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 3: Whole bank down. 181 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 4: It was a you know, three hundred year old bank 182 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,280 Speaker 4: and one of the most prominent firms. So what ended 183 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 4: up happening is that the Dutch firm Ing took over 184 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 4: Bearings Famously for one pound and assumed all their liabilities 185 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,439 Speaker 4: and they took it over. This is around the time 186 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 4: that I had joined, and you know, at the time, 187 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 4: I remember thinking this is a very unsettling this is 188 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 4: you know, I don't know what I'm going to do. 189 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:54,439 Speaker 3: I was very worried. 190 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 4: I just decided to leave AIG and join this new 191 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 4: company bearing private equity. In hindsight, sitting here today, I 192 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 4: can say it's probably one of the best things that 193 00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 4: ever happened to me, was to be able to step 194 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 4: into a situation that was going through a lot of change. 195 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 4: And I think it is an important lesson in life 196 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 4: actually that there are these times when you go through 197 00:10:14,000 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 4: There's serendipity number one, so luck. There's also the fact 198 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 4: that you're often thrust into situations you don't expect, and 199 00:10:22,040 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 4: it kind of boils down to how you end up 200 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,239 Speaker 4: responding to them and looking for the best possible outcomes 201 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:32,280 Speaker 4: or the best way out of a situation can sometimes 202 00:10:32,320 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 4: lead to huge opportunities, which is what happened here because 203 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 4: that confusion of the takeover by IG of Bearings resulted 204 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:42,079 Speaker 4: in Bearings essentially figuring that they didn't need. 205 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 3: To have some of these non core businesses. 206 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 4: And so I approached the new Dutch owners and asked 207 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,720 Speaker 4: them if it was okay if we spun our business out. 208 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 4: At the time, which we did, it was a very 209 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,240 Speaker 4: small business. It was a twenty five We had twenty 210 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 4: five million dollars of assets under management, which even in 211 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 4: those days was not a lot of mine, and we 212 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 4: were really just getting started. And they agreed, and so 213 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 4: we ended up establishing an independent, small private equity business 214 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:09,800 Speaker 4: called Bearing Private Equity Asian. 215 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,480 Speaker 3: So kept the name. We kept the name BPA. 216 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 2: There was this tremendous transition from what was essentially a 217 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:24,199 Speaker 2: startup to what eventually became a pretty substantial institution. What 218 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 2: was that like. 219 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 4: Initially we were starting off and again it was nineteen 220 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:32,439 Speaker 4: ninety seven, ninety six, ninety seven, so if he recalled 221 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 4: nineteen ninety seven was actually the Asian Financial crisis, as 222 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,959 Speaker 4: I referred to which was a terrible period of huge 223 00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 4: currency devaluations, starting with a ruble in Russia, but then 224 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 4: sort of a contagion effect throughout. 225 00:11:45,400 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 2: The ruble was worse the following year with long term 226 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 2: capital management, if my memory is great. So the Asian 227 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 2: contagion was the tie Bot crisis. 228 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 4: And it was it was the Indonesian sort of high 229 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 4: yield market as well that blew up. We're basically borrowing 230 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 4: dollars because it was cheaper to do so, using that 231 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 4: money to then invest in their businesses in Asia, thinking 232 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 4: that they could make the spread and kind of capture that. 233 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:11,720 Speaker 2: As long as the currency stay stable, which. 234 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 3: Is okay, but then it isn't till it isn't right. 235 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,440 Speaker 4: So that's what happened, and so that blew out and 236 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 4: it caused a tremendous financial crisis across the whole region. 237 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:23,120 Speaker 4: And this is in the middle of when we were 238 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,680 Speaker 4: getting started. So I remember we're writing the first PPM, 239 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 4: the first private placement memo to go raise capital, and 240 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 4: the whole story was in ninety six was about growth 241 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,000 Speaker 4: in Asia, the growth story, and halfway through that writing 242 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,120 Speaker 4: the PPM, we had to basically change the PPM and 243 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 4: change the strategy to become more of a distress strategy 244 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 4: on how we're going to capitalize on the dislocation in 245 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 4: Asia to invest in great companies that have bad balance sheets, 246 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,080 Speaker 4: which is sort of what we did with that first 247 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:51,920 Speaker 4: twenty five million that we started with, because what happened 248 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:55,320 Speaker 4: was that Ing gave us that seed capital to get 249 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 4: going with, which was the twenty five million. They were 250 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:58,960 Speaker 4: supposed to give us three hundred but it ended up 251 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 4: not coming through, so we started with twenty five. 252 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,080 Speaker 2: Why is it that the indications of interest and the 253 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,440 Speaker 2: actual cash there's such as a multiple between the two. 254 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 4: What happened in my case is that there were supposed 255 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 4: to be three of us that were coming across to 256 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 4: start the business. There was two very senior guys from 257 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 4: AIG actually that were poached by Bearings to start the 258 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 4: business for them in Asia, and they asked me, the 259 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:25,480 Speaker 4: young kid who was doing all the number crunching, to 260 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 4: join them to do the actual work. And I said, 261 00:13:27,880 --> 00:13:31,400 Speaker 4: I'd be delighted to because it's such an exciting entrepreneurial opportunity. 262 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:32,560 Speaker 3: You know, here I am. 263 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:34,720 Speaker 4: A young junior analyst and I get a chance to 264 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,520 Speaker 4: be potentially a partner in this startup, so I thought, 265 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 4: I raised my hand. As we were about to get started, 266 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,960 Speaker 4: the two senior guys got a counter offer from Hank Greenberg, 267 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 4: who called them up and say, hey, you guys are 268 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 4: too important. 269 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 3: We want you to stay. 270 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 4: Here's all this money and equity and that, you know, 271 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,960 Speaker 4: to convince you to stay. But he didn't make me 272 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 4: a counter offer. He just cut me loose. So those 273 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 4: guys accepted the counter offer. I was there, left on 274 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,320 Speaker 4: my own, and I went back to the IG folks 275 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,719 Speaker 4: and I said, here, I am, I'm ready to do this. 276 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,320 Speaker 4: They said, well, you're a little young and inexperience. It's 277 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 4: not what we're expecting. We're going to slash the capital 278 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:12,440 Speaker 4: that we commit to this from three hundred to twenty five, 279 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 4: less than ten percent, said I said. That's good enough 280 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:17,960 Speaker 4: for me. I said, I'll take that. That sounds good. 281 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 4: So we started with twenty five and we did five 282 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:23,000 Speaker 4: deals of five million each, and it turned out that 283 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,800 Speaker 4: because of the cycle where we were, we were lucky 284 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:28,480 Speaker 4: to be able to buy in at good prices and 285 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:29,920 Speaker 4: we bought some interesting businesses. 286 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:33,160 Speaker 2: Huh, that sounds really that got us started. Basically, Yeah, 287 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 2: that sounds really really quite fascinating. So BPA was in China, India, 288 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 2: Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea. Here's the thing that I'm fascinated. Okay, 289 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 2: So maybe New York is different than Florida, is different 290 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 2: than Texas, is different than California, but we all speak 291 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:54,080 Speaker 2: the same language more or less. It's the same laws, 292 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:58,920 Speaker 2: it's the same regulatory structure. When you're working throughout Asia, 293 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 2: this different legal system, This is a different cultural dynamic, 294 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:08,000 Speaker 2: they're different political dynamics. How do you build relationships, how 295 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 2: do you build a knowledge base and navigate? Like is 296 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 2: from an American perspective? Are those countries more similar than 297 00:15:16,880 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 2: we imagine? Or am I teeing this up correctly? Each 298 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:24,920 Speaker 2: one is its own, independent, unique region. 299 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 4: You're absolutely right about that, and that actually is the 300 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 4: key I think to what we've been able to achieve 301 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 4: over three decades, was that overcoming those barriers, because ultimately 302 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,160 Speaker 4: people think of Asia, they call it Asia, but it's 303 00:15:39,240 --> 00:15:43,320 Speaker 4: really a first of all geographic, it's a huge, huge expansive. 304 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 4: You know, from Tokyo to Sydney, it's like a twelve 305 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 4: hour flight, you know, and from you know, from even 306 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 4: from Hong Kong all the way to India, it's still 307 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 4: a pretty long distance and culturally, you're talking about a 308 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:03,040 Speaker 4: very significant difference in the local culture, the language, the 309 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,320 Speaker 4: ways of doing business. So what we did initially was, 310 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 4: you know, and we were actually criticized for this in 311 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,960 Speaker 4: the early days because in those days people just did single. 312 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 3: Country funds for that very reason. 313 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 4: You had a China fund, you had you know, you 314 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 4: had a sort of Japan fund and Korea fund. And 315 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 4: what we set out to do was to say, okay, 316 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 4: we're going to create a regional investment program. People looked 317 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 4: at me and said, what do you know about investing 318 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 4: in Japan? Or like, what do you know about India? 319 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,960 Speaker 4: You're not even from Asia. And so what I early 320 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 4: on appreciate it, and this has been an important lesson 321 00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 4: in my career is that actually being a good investor 322 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:36,440 Speaker 4: is very important for what we do in our industry. 323 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:38,960 Speaker 4: But if you want to build a company, which was 324 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,359 Speaker 4: always my ambition, if you want to build a business 325 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 4: out of it, you need to actually build a team, 326 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,760 Speaker 4: not just be a good investor. Being a good investor 327 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 4: is kind of prerequisite to be in our industry, but 328 00:16:48,720 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 4: beyond that, it's really about building a team. 329 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 3: And so I was lucky. 330 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,680 Speaker 4: Enough to meet and to and to bring on board 331 00:16:55,800 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 4: some great partners early on, very diverse backgrounds. So you know, 332 00:17:00,600 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 4: we have people even to this day and in those 333 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:05,760 Speaker 4: days from each of these markets. So you know, we 334 00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,760 Speaker 4: had great partners from China, from Taiwan on our team 335 00:17:08,800 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 4: that we hired early on. We had a very good 336 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,920 Speaker 4: team in India on the ground in Mumbai. We call 337 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 4: it now local with locals, where you have local teams 338 00:17:16,520 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 4: in each market. In two thousand and five, we opened 339 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 4: up an office in Japan and we hired a great 340 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,840 Speaker 4: team in Japan of great people there. As we're building 341 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 4: the team a you needed to have people from those 342 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,040 Speaker 4: markets that understood those markets. But the next question is 343 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:31,520 Speaker 4: how do you stitch it all together? You know, how 344 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 4: do you create that common thread? And that comes down 345 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:38,640 Speaker 4: to culture and building a culture of like minded people. 346 00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:41,120 Speaker 4: And so I started to really also gain a huge 347 00:17:41,119 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 4: appreciation for the importance of culture in a business. And 348 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,320 Speaker 4: that's something by the way that EQT has I think, 349 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 4: really excelled in globally. And one of the reasons I 350 00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:53,879 Speaker 4: was ultimately attracted to EQT in combining our business with 351 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 4: EQT four or five years ago was that Connie Johnson, 352 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 4: the founder of EQT, early on with the Wallenberg's back 353 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:06,680 Speaker 4: backing realize that culture ultimately drives performance in an investment 354 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 4: organization like ours. So built an organization with tremendous culture, 355 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,399 Speaker 4: and our culture was actually somewhat similar. So we were 356 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,360 Speaker 4: able to bring the two cultures together and the cultural 357 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 4: fit ended up being what made that merger so successful. 358 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 4: But going back to building the Asia business, building the 359 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,520 Speaker 4: team on the ground, building the common culture, and then 360 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 4: it was sort of how do we institutionalize this instead 361 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 4: of just doing deals here, doing deals there, how do 362 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,400 Speaker 4: we create a unified, systematic approach? And this is where 363 00:18:34,400 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 4: my main days sort of came in of thinking, let's 364 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,160 Speaker 4: come up with some constructs about how we think about 365 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:42,199 Speaker 4: capital allocation, how we think about diversification, how do we 366 00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 4: think about macro, how do we think about sector trends, 367 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 4: how do we think about our investment committee process? How 368 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 4: do we drive due diligence systematic due diligence in every 369 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 4: market so we have quality control in each market. 370 00:18:52,760 --> 00:18:54,360 Speaker 3: It's not just random. 371 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 4: Deal makers doing things the way that they want to 372 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:59,040 Speaker 4: do them on the ground, and so pulling all that together, 373 00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 4: which it took a lot of time. I'm making it. 374 00:19:01,359 --> 00:19:03,520 Speaker 4: I'm shortening it here, but you know, there was a 375 00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 4: lot of ups and downs. There, a lot of mistakes, 376 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,800 Speaker 4: a lot of setbacks, but eventually we got there and 377 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,600 Speaker 4: we find our strategy over the years and we created 378 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 4: something that's actually quite hard to replicate, which is this 379 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:18,439 Speaker 4: regional platform delivering consistent outcomes with a great team of 380 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 4: consistent of people that have been with us a long 381 00:19:21,560 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 4: time and that have a similar approach to underwriting and 382 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 4: ultimately great performance. And so all that going from twenty 383 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:31,800 Speaker 4: five million where we ended up. By the time we 384 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 4: did the deal with EQT, we had twenty five billion 385 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,960 Speaker 4: under management over the spans of what was twenty five 386 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 4: years of billion. 387 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,320 Speaker 2: The business coming up, we continue our conversation with Jean 388 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 2: Eric Salata, chairman of EQT Group, discussing the combination of 389 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 2: BPA and EQT. I'm Barry Ridaults. You're listening to Masters 390 00:19:51,960 --> 00:20:10,000 Speaker 2: in Business on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Barry Ridolts. You're listening 391 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:13,679 Speaker 2: to Masters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. My extra special 392 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 2: guest this week is Jean Eric Salata. He is chair 393 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:22,320 Speaker 2: of EQT Group, one of the largest alternative managers outside 394 00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:26,360 Speaker 2: of the US, they managed three hundred and sixteen billion dollars. 395 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 2: So let's talk a little bit about how this all came. 396 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:36,199 Speaker 2: About twenty twenty two, you merge BPA with EQT. That 397 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:41,359 Speaker 2: was a seven billion dollar deal that followed about twenty 398 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:47,240 Speaker 2: five years of independence. What led to that decision to merge? 399 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:52,120 Speaker 2: What could EQT offer that BPA couldn't build on its own? 400 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: Yeah? 401 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:55,840 Speaker 4: I think what I started to sense in about say 402 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,360 Speaker 4: twenty fifteen, was that the industry was changing. Our industry 403 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 4: was changing global. You started to see global firms moving 404 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,639 Speaker 4: into Asia. You started to see some firms starting to 405 00:21:07,640 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 4: go public. You started to see multi product firms developing 406 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,439 Speaker 4: beyond just a single product, single asset class scale. And 407 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 4: I realized that although we were doing very well and 408 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 4: we're very successful and growing, if we wanted to make 409 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:26,439 Speaker 4: this a multi generational business that's going to continue to thrive, 410 00:21:27,240 --> 00:21:29,680 Speaker 4: we wanted to be part of this industry consolidation, put 411 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,359 Speaker 4: this trend towards scale, rather than to be sort of, 412 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 4: you know, pushed aside by it. And that's when I 413 00:21:36,400 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 4: started thinking, what are our options? I mean, one option 414 00:21:39,600 --> 00:21:41,679 Speaker 4: was for us to try to expand beyond Asia and 415 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 4: to develop our business outside of the region. That was 416 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:45,679 Speaker 4: going to be pretty difficult at this stage because the 417 00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:51,160 Speaker 4: business is coming so large and entrenched globally. And then 418 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 4: I started looking at ways of working with others, and 419 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 4: that's when I met EQT really through their own IPO 420 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:02,040 Speaker 4: that they had done at the time gone public in 421 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 4: twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, and I was curious about that, 422 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 4: and I saw I went to speak to them about 423 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,920 Speaker 4: how they had done that, and we started talking, and 424 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 4: you know, one thing led to another, and by the 425 00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,119 Speaker 4: end of this conversation, it became evident to all of 426 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:19,399 Speaker 4: us sitting around the table that actually, there's something here 427 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:21,239 Speaker 4: that could be quite powerful if we were to come 428 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:22,479 Speaker 4: bring the businesses together. 429 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:27,920 Speaker 2: You mentioned earlier how important culture is to performance in 430 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,879 Speaker 2: an investment world. I would imagine that a Swedish firm 431 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 2: like EQT and essentially a regional Asian firm like BPA, 432 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 2: you would imagine those are very different cultures and there's 433 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 2: going to be a challenge integrating the two of them. 434 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 2: What was your experience like trying to get all the 435 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 2: horses pouring in the same direction. 436 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think initially you could imagine that would be 437 00:22:56,640 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 4: the case, but as it turns out. 438 00:22:58,160 --> 00:22:59,320 Speaker 3: I think a few things here. 439 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:02,199 Speaker 4: First of all, started off as a Swedish firm, but 440 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 4: it really by the time we met had already become 441 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 4: a much more global business. So first Swedish, then European, 442 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 4: expanding into Europe and then expanding into the US. Had 443 00:23:12,760 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 4: some presence in Asia, not much. Secondly, EQT is backed 444 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,440 Speaker 4: by the Wallenberg family. The Wallenberg family is a sixth 445 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 4: generation family from Sweden that has a history of really 446 00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:31,199 Speaker 4: doing business globally. Investors in Ericsson, Electroluxe, SOB, many of 447 00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 4: the big Swedish companies Astrozeneca are backed by the Wallenberg family, 448 00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:37,440 Speaker 4: and so they have a very global mindset, I would say, 449 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 4: in the way they think about doing business. 450 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:40,440 Speaker 3: Globally and culturally. 451 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,399 Speaker 4: Then I think the other aspect here is there's a 452 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 4: difference I think between a European firm like EQT and 453 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 4: say American firms. The European firms already are thinking in 454 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 4: terms of well, every country is different. You've got you know, 455 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 4: the Nordics are different than Germany, which is different than France, 456 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,679 Speaker 4: which is different than Southern Europe. And so when they 457 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 4: come to Asia they have I think a heightened sense 458 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 4: of appreciation for the diff cultural differences within Asia, and 459 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:09,679 Speaker 4: you know, I think I think that to me was 460 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,639 Speaker 4: really important that they understand that within Asia, Japan is 461 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:14,920 Speaker 4: very different from India, and India is very different from China, 462 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 4: and so I felt almost like there was a kindred 463 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 4: spirit there and understanding that each country, each region, the 464 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 4: cultures really matter. Then I would say that if you 465 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 4: look at the histories of the firm, we're both about 466 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:28,359 Speaker 4: thirty years old at the time, we both had our 467 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 4: ups and downs, we both kind of built the business 468 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,119 Speaker 4: from a founder of Connie and myself, and you know, 469 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 4: I think there was a lot of common history, shared 470 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:40,400 Speaker 4: history there, and ultimately a point boiled down to the 471 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 4: i'd say, the chemistry of the senior team, but then 472 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 4: ultimately the culture throughout, and I felt very comfortable with it, 473 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 4: and we did some spend some time together, meeting with 474 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,200 Speaker 4: the team members, meeting with each other, and we ended 475 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 4: up feeling like this was going to be a great fit. 476 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 4: Still taking a chance and coming and bringing the business together. 477 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,960 Speaker 4: But having done it now been together now for nearly 478 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 4: four years, I can tell you it's been a huge success. 479 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,560 Speaker 4: And it really boils down to the fact that the people, 480 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:10,640 Speaker 4: the cultural fit was very strong. Maybe the good time 481 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 4: to talk about the values also of EQT, which are 482 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 4: similar to the values we had at Bearing Private Equity 483 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,159 Speaker 4: at the time. You know, there's some key values that 484 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 4: EQT has. Number one, it's high performing, which is, you know, 485 00:25:20,880 --> 00:25:22,479 Speaker 4: something that I think most people in the industry are 486 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,560 Speaker 4: going to focus on. But beyond that, it's also we 487 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,639 Speaker 4: focus a lot on transparency, We focus on being informal, 488 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:33,600 Speaker 4: we focus on being entrepreneurial, and we have another fifth value, 489 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 4: which is respectful. And if you take all those as 490 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,600 Speaker 4: a package, you know, what you start to sense is 491 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 4: the sort of people that end up coming to EQT 492 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,320 Speaker 4: staying at EQT. It's not the typical deal maker, kind 493 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 4: of Wall Street type of deal maker that you get 494 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,639 Speaker 4: in some of our parts of our industry. And I 495 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 4: think that really appealed to the kind of makeup of 496 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 4: our firm at the time. You know, having that really 497 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:03,080 Speaker 4: informal interaction with people that's a little bit of a 498 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 4: Nordic trade. I would say that this lack of hierarchy. 499 00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:08,159 Speaker 4: You know, you take a look at Connie, he's the 500 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,640 Speaker 4: founder of the firm. He's really opened up the ownership 501 00:26:11,640 --> 00:26:13,679 Speaker 4: of the firm early to all the partners of the firm. 502 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,360 Speaker 4: The fact that he was even open to combining with 503 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 4: my old business, in a sense, diluting even further on 504 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,359 Speaker 4: a fairly large transaction that as you mentioned, you know, 505 00:26:23,480 --> 00:26:26,440 Speaker 4: that speaks to this kind of expansive view of we're 506 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,920 Speaker 4: trying to build an institution here. It's not about any 507 00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 4: one individual, it's not about sort of creating a legacy 508 00:26:31,840 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 4: of any one individual. It's about creating a business that's 509 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 4: going to last. So that sort of mindset, I think 510 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 4: really appealed to me and felt like the kind of 511 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:40,439 Speaker 4: place that was a good home for the company that 512 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:42,439 Speaker 4: we had built as a partnership prior to that. 513 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:45,920 Speaker 2: Really really interesting. Let's talk a little bit about how 514 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:50,960 Speaker 2: the capital has invested. Sixty five percent of eqt's capital 515 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 2: is in Europe and Asia. How do you think about 516 00:26:54,560 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 2: geographic diversification. It's always a challenge. 517 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,880 Speaker 4: I think diverse vacation is becoming more and more top 518 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:04,719 Speaker 4: of mind for global investors, particularly when we talk to 519 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:09,120 Speaker 4: our institutional investors. Even in the private world channels. You're 520 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 4: starting to get a sense that people feel overly concentrated, 521 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 4: over extended, maybe in US assets not to say that 522 00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,520 Speaker 4: US assets are not attractive or that they don't have 523 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 4: great prospects, which they do. But you know, having eighty 524 00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 4: five ninety percent of your assets tied into a market 525 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:29,640 Speaker 4: that's already highly concentrated is becoming a little bit uneasy 526 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 4: for people. So what we're sensing it with our clients 527 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 4: is a desire to get exposure to more global markets. 528 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 4: And what do you keep. Where we're strong is we 529 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 4: have two thirds of our businesses outside of the US. 530 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,600 Speaker 3: We're very strong in Europe, were very strong in Asia. 531 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 4: Within those markets, we are also you know, exposed to 532 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 4: some of the best sectors. We have a very thematic approach. 533 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,919 Speaker 4: We invest in healthcare, we invest in technology. Actually, we 534 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:56,920 Speaker 4: just announced yesterday. I don't know when this is airing, 535 00:27:56,960 --> 00:27:59,439 Speaker 4: but we just announced yesterday that we've been awarded the 536 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:03,680 Speaker 4: Scale Up Europe Fund mandate by the European Commission, which 537 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:08,399 Speaker 4: is a huge deal. They decided to ward EQT the 538 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:10,640 Speaker 4: management of what's going to be a five billion dollar 539 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,439 Speaker 4: fund that will invest in early stage technology ventures across 540 00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 4: Europe to help them to scale up, so kind of 541 00:28:17,240 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 4: series be onwards in areas like quantum computing, AI, life sciences, AI, infrastructure, 542 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 4: industrial technology, really taking the innovation that exists in Europe 543 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:32,679 Speaker 4: and scaling it up to compete globally at the global 544 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 4: scale with some of the innovation you see in the 545 00:28:34,359 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 4: United States and in China. 546 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 3: So we have exposure to some. 547 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 4: Of these really interesting parts of the global investment landscape, 548 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 4: and that's very additive to what investors typically would have 549 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 4: in their exposure in their traditional portfolio would be much 550 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,840 Speaker 4: more heavily weighted towards the US, and this is a 551 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:52,840 Speaker 4: way to get a little bit broader global diversification in 552 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 4: that sense. 553 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 2: Really kind of interesting when we look at the performance 554 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 2: of various markets, really going back to the Great Financial Crisis, 555 00:29:02,840 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 2: it feels like Asia and Europe has very much legged 556 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:09,640 Speaker 2: the US up until a year or two ago exactly. 557 00:29:10,120 --> 00:29:12,400 Speaker 2: I'm curious how you look at some of the macro 558 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:18,320 Speaker 2: tailwinds that Asia is certainly enjoying, and as we see 559 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 2: a shift towards China in many many ways, especially leadership, 560 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,400 Speaker 2: and how do you see Europe is some tailwinds to 561 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 2: some headwinds. They seem to be a little more complex 562 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,320 Speaker 2: than trying to figure out what direction they're heading. 563 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:37,640 Speaker 4: Yeah, I think what we're starting to see globally right 564 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:44,880 Speaker 4: now is this capital capex supercycle that is playing out 565 00:29:45,120 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 4: with AI infrastructure, but not just AI infrastructure. It also 566 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 4: feeds into the reindustrialization focus on capex for reindustrialization. 567 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 2: Reindustrialization meaning explain what that meaning. 568 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:01,320 Speaker 4: Sort of the investing back in to more of the 569 00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 4: industrial base of say the United States or Europe, away 570 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:09,360 Speaker 4: from just outsourcing all of that. And so this reindustrialization, 571 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,040 Speaker 4: the AI capex infrastructure, plus you know, the whole power 572 00:30:14,320 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 4: energy transition that's going on with electrification, this is resulting 573 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 4: in much more capital intensive investment than we've ever seen before. 574 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 4: I mean, the sort of numbers that people are throwing 575 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 4: around are just unprecedented within our lifetimes. We've never it's historical, 576 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,160 Speaker 4: the levels of investment that we're seeing, and that has 577 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 4: knock on effects. The knock on effects are throughout the 578 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:37,560 Speaker 4: whole supply chain. A lot of the supply chain actually 579 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 4: feeds back into Europe, it feeds back into Asia certainly. 580 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 4: And so this kind of global supply chain of capital 581 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 4: expenditures is creating new investment opportunities and demand for capital 582 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:50,800 Speaker 4: that we haven't like we have never seen before in 583 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:53,480 Speaker 4: terms of the quantum of money that's required to make 584 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 4: this investment play out. So these are sort of broadening 585 00:30:57,320 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 4: that exposure across the regions. Is where we see opportunity. 586 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 4: If I look at the world today, you know, the 587 00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 4: AI infrastructure opportunity globally is probably the single biggest, most 588 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 4: interesting investment opportunity for US. It means investing in a 589 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 4: couple of key areas. One is in the compute or 590 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 4: data center space. We have one of the largest data 591 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 4: center businesses in the world called it edge Connects. It's 592 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 4: active both in the US but also in Europe and 593 00:31:22,840 --> 00:31:25,480 Speaker 4: now increasingly in Asia. We have a joint venture in India, 594 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 4: for example, with the Adani Group in edge Connects, and 595 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 4: that that data center business has over ninety data centers. 596 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,120 Speaker 4: It's increased in value. We've owned it now for six 597 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:38,800 Speaker 4: seven years. I think it's increased by twenty x in 598 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 4: terms of the total installed capacity of the business. 599 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 3: We have. 600 00:31:45,560 --> 00:31:47,479 Speaker 4: In addition to that, we take kind of an end 601 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 4: to end solutions approach. So we have the compute but 602 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 4: we also have about one hundred billion dollars of investment 603 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:57,240 Speaker 4: into energy. So the energy, the whole energy grid, you know, 604 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 4: power generation and grid and storage. This is a really 605 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 4: important part of the comprehensive solution that you need to 606 00:32:04,320 --> 00:32:07,760 Speaker 4: drive AI compute. So we've got the energy, we've got 607 00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 4: the compute, we're also investing in the digital infrastructure to 608 00:32:13,720 --> 00:32:15,920 Speaker 4: connect it all the digital connectivity of all of this, 609 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 4: and so if you tie that all together, our infrastructure 610 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,120 Speaker 4: business is really riding some of these global tailwinds, not 611 00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:24,880 Speaker 4: just in the US, but really doing this globally. Then 612 00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:26,760 Speaker 4: in addition to that, i'd say the other thing that's 613 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:28,880 Speaker 4: pretty interesting if you take a sort of non US 614 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 4: lens at the world, is what's happening in Japan. And 615 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,840 Speaker 4: there the Japanese buyout market is really on a taiar. 616 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,400 Speaker 4: It's being driven primarily by some corporate reforms around shareholder 617 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:48,640 Speaker 4: reforms and activists, shareholder increasing activism, shareholder activism which is 618 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 4: supported actually by the Japanese government to improve corporate governance. Essentially, 619 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 4: that's creating opportunities to really focus on shareholder value and 620 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:00,360 Speaker 4: to result in a lot more deal flow. The number 621 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 4: of transactions that we've seen have it's this year to alone, 622 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:06,160 Speaker 4: it's up sixty percent year to date. The total number 623 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 4: of activist shareholder campaigns has doubled in the last few 624 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,040 Speaker 4: years fifty to over one hundred a year on the 625 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,160 Speaker 4: back of some of these reforms. So you're seeing a 626 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 4: whole new market kind of developing there for Japanese buyouts, 627 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:24,480 Speaker 4: which is very uncorrelated and very complementary to the traditional 628 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,560 Speaker 4: bioopportunities that exist in the United States. And then together 629 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:30,640 Speaker 4: with the I infrastructure opportunity, which is more global, there's 630 00:33:30,720 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 4: just a lot happening in our ecosystem which we see 631 00:33:33,160 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 4: as being very additive, very complementary to just the traditional 632 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 4: bread and butter of US exposure to private equity or 633 00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:40,560 Speaker 4: US infrastructure. 634 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 2: So I have so many questions to go. 635 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,520 Speaker 4: Sorry, maybe just one last year on that, which is 636 00:33:45,520 --> 00:33:47,040 Speaker 4: that you asked. You started the question up by the 637 00:33:47,040 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 4: outperformance of the market. So what ended up happening last year, 638 00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:53,080 Speaker 4: as you pointed out, is that you know, the stock markets, 639 00:33:53,080 --> 00:33:55,600 Speaker 4: if you look at listed markets as a proxy, the 640 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 4: S and P five hundred did pretty well, was up 641 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 4: sort of eighteen percent of seventeen, yeah, versus thirty three. 642 00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 4: But everything else in Asia was up much more than that, 643 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 4: as it turned out, either amazing who would have guessed, 644 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,520 Speaker 4: you know, here is up sixty percent last year, and 645 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:10,960 Speaker 4: Hong Kong was up, Japan was up in the thirties, 646 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:16,080 Speaker 4: and you had even europe stock markets did better than 647 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,560 Speaker 4: the US last year. So the idea that having all 648 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,680 Speaker 4: your pension, all your retirement money in one market, it's 649 00:34:23,719 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 4: worked pretty well for design being. But the idea of 650 00:34:26,640 --> 00:34:29,719 Speaker 4: the correlation and concentration, and you know, markets don't always 651 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:32,239 Speaker 4: go up, they go down as well. I think the 652 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 4: old diversification strategies do play a role in long term 653 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:40,799 Speaker 4: acid allocation, and that's where EQT, I think has something. 654 00:34:41,120 --> 00:34:44,200 Speaker 2: I have so many questions about Europe and Japan and 655 00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:48,359 Speaker 2: Korea and other areas, but I have to come back 656 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:52,439 Speaker 2: to China for a moment, which for the better part 657 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:54,680 Speaker 2: of the past two or three decades has been the 658 00:34:54,719 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 2: center of Asia. Feels like the geopolitics, the regulatory environment, 659 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:06,720 Speaker 2: everything has shifted fairly dramatically. How do you look at China. 660 00:35:06,800 --> 00:35:09,840 Speaker 2: Are they still, you know, the eight hundred pound gorilla, 661 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:15,960 Speaker 2: or are there enough offsetting economies that are really growing 662 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:20,359 Speaker 2: and seeing gains in their markets that it's not all 663 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:23,520 Speaker 2: about China the way it once was ten twenty years ago. 664 00:35:25,560 --> 00:35:30,280 Speaker 4: The world is geopolitically is becoming more polarized, and maybe 665 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 4: creating more silos in certain strategic areas like technology and defense, 666 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:40,680 Speaker 4: as you know, as the winds have shifted. 667 00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:41,680 Speaker 3: That's just the. 668 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:44,839 Speaker 4: Reality of the world that we're living in. Having said that, 669 00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:48,480 Speaker 4: I do think that there's still this underlying ecosystem of 670 00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 4: inter dependence and you know, a desire I think to 671 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:58,200 Speaker 4: work together. I hope in areas like, for example, in medicine. 672 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 4: You know, if you look at the biofarm the biotech industry, 673 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,719 Speaker 4: there's a lot going on right now between China and 674 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,920 Speaker 4: the US. A lot of the early stage trials that 675 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 4: are being done. Many of those are getting acquired by 676 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,440 Speaker 4: US pharmaceutical companies and then being rolled out for the 677 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:13,759 Speaker 4: benefit of humanity all. 678 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:14,240 Speaker 3: Over the world. 679 00:36:15,120 --> 00:36:17,319 Speaker 4: And these are areas where there's scope I think for 680 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,239 Speaker 4: cooperation and I think everyone can benefit from that. There 681 00:36:21,239 --> 00:36:23,839 Speaker 4: are areas that are much more sensitive when it comes 682 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,759 Speaker 4: to technology and ships and semiconductors. But even there, I 683 00:36:27,760 --> 00:36:32,920 Speaker 4: would say that it's important for all investors, for all 684 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:37,879 Speaker 4: business investors, for governments, for policy makers to at least 685 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:43,360 Speaker 4: understand what's happening in China because I think it's relevant. 686 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,600 Speaker 4: You know, it has an impact on global outlook. You know, 687 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:50,680 Speaker 4: you look at evs, you look at the solar industry, 688 00:36:51,520 --> 00:36:54,360 Speaker 4: you look at what's happening in battery storage. You know, 689 00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 4: having access to that sort of know how ultimately is 690 00:36:57,120 --> 00:36:59,520 Speaker 4: going to be important for everyone. How you do that 691 00:36:59,560 --> 00:37:02,120 Speaker 4: in a way protects your national interest is a topic 692 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,120 Speaker 4: of the day for policymakers globally, in the US and Europe, 693 00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:07,160 Speaker 4: and I think people are looking at that differently than 694 00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:08,760 Speaker 4: they used to in terms of how much they're willing 695 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,520 Speaker 4: to outsource versus how much they want to do themselves. 696 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 4: I mean, this Scale Up Europe Fund that I just 697 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,200 Speaker 4: mentioned is also a policy response to wanting to create 698 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:21,239 Speaker 4: homegrown innovation and scale homegrown innovation, which makes sense the 699 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:22,839 Speaker 4: way the US wants to do that and the way 700 00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:26,680 Speaker 4: that China wants to do that. I think that the 701 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 4: Chinese economy, it's truly impressive what's happening there in terms 702 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,520 Speaker 4: of innovation, the way the economy is growing, and the 703 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 4: amount of R and D if you look at the 704 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,200 Speaker 4: patents being filed, the level of innovation, how the innovation 705 00:37:40,280 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 4: is being commercialized. But at the same time, there's some 706 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:46,800 Speaker 4: very exciting things happening in Europe and in the United States. Obviously, 707 00:37:46,880 --> 00:37:49,279 Speaker 4: the US is also leading in many ways when it 708 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:52,719 Speaker 4: comes to AI. One of the things to keep an 709 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,560 Speaker 4: eye on, by the way, is the cost of compute 710 00:37:55,800 --> 00:38:02,480 Speaker 4: differential between the US and China. There is a big 711 00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:07,440 Speaker 4: difference there in how compute is generated and ultimately the 712 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 4: cost of that compute per token to the users, which 713 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 4: is going to become more of a focus, I think 714 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:14,200 Speaker 4: going forward than it has been up until now, where 715 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:16,480 Speaker 4: it's kind of been viewed as a must have, almost 716 00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:20,360 Speaker 4: free available to all employees, they will be more focused 717 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,040 Speaker 4: on ROI and I think this is where people are 718 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:25,680 Speaker 4: going to start looking at the competitive position of cost 719 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:28,439 Speaker 4: of compute in different markets versus what's happening in the US. 720 00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:31,920 Speaker 2: Last question of EQT before we start talking a little 721 00:38:31,920 --> 00:38:35,840 Speaker 2: more about the environment out there today. How do investors 722 00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:41,960 Speaker 2: in EQT manage their exposure? Are they putting money into 723 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:45,880 Speaker 2: one fund that has a little bit of everything or 724 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:49,480 Speaker 2: do people get very granular or a little bit of both. 725 00:38:50,160 --> 00:38:54,760 Speaker 4: We have thirty different strategies at EQT across four different areas, 726 00:38:55,680 --> 00:39:00,319 Speaker 4: private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and secondaries. Secondaries is our 727 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,440 Speaker 4: newest area that we've just announced that we've required. Color 728 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 4: Capital hasn't closed it but we're in the process of 729 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:06,760 Speaker 4: bringing that on board. 730 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:10,759 Speaker 3: So we have thirty different strategies. I think we have both. 731 00:39:10,800 --> 00:39:13,759 Speaker 4: We have the drawdown funds, which are the main institutional 732 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:16,760 Speaker 4: vehicles for committing traditionally as you would to a fund 733 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:20,319 Speaker 4: and invest in buyouts or in growth capital, or in 734 00:39:20,360 --> 00:39:24,120 Speaker 4: life sciences or in real estate. But increasingly, and this 735 00:39:24,200 --> 00:39:27,120 Speaker 4: is the higher, highest growth part of our business and 736 00:39:27,280 --> 00:39:30,439 Speaker 4: for the industry as a whole, we have the open 737 00:39:30,520 --> 00:39:33,960 Speaker 4: ended structures. Some people call them evergreens. We don't call 738 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,640 Speaker 4: them semi liquids because they're not liquid. They're not even 739 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 4: semi liquid, but they are open ended. And what open 740 00:39:40,040 --> 00:39:42,919 Speaker 4: ended means is that you can subscribe to them every 741 00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:47,640 Speaker 4: month and you can redeem every quarter subject to the 742 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 4: underlying liquidity availability in the quarter and the You know, 743 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,120 Speaker 4: what we're starting to see is there are a couple 744 00:39:55,160 --> 00:39:56,399 Speaker 4: advantages of the. 745 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:57,880 Speaker 3: Evergreen or open ended structures. 746 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 4: Number One, they do invest across everything, so you don't 747 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:02,840 Speaker 4: have to choose which funds you want to invest and 748 00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:05,200 Speaker 4: you get a broad exposure. Number Two, they invest one 749 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,080 Speaker 4: hundred percent of your money immediately into the asset class. 750 00:40:08,080 --> 00:40:11,840 Speaker 4: So we're starting to see institutional investors also use this. 751 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,839 Speaker 4: Not just the private clients use this because they are 752 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:18,280 Speaker 4: able to dial up and dial down their exposure instantly. 753 00:40:18,719 --> 00:40:20,719 Speaker 4: So if you want to have a certain percent of 754 00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 4: your portfolio in private markets, rather than waiting for the 755 00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,239 Speaker 4: capital to be called over the next two three years, 756 00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,239 Speaker 4: you could just put it to work immediately into the 757 00:40:28,280 --> 00:40:31,400 Speaker 4: asset class through these evergreen structures, which are fully invested 758 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:35,120 Speaker 4: on an nav basis immediately. So that's one of the 759 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:38,359 Speaker 4: interesting aspects of that. The other interesting aspect of our 760 00:40:39,200 --> 00:40:42,400 Speaker 4: evergreen structures or open endstructures is, unlike some of the 761 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:47,040 Speaker 4: other products out there which have designated investment strategies or 762 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 4: investment teams for those open ended structures, our open ended 763 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:53,640 Speaker 4: structure is essentially a like for like perry pursuit. Alongside 764 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:56,960 Speaker 4: everything we do, you get exactly the same exposure to 765 00:40:57,080 --> 00:40:59,239 Speaker 4: exactly the same deals and the same pricing and the 766 00:40:59,239 --> 00:41:01,919 Speaker 4: same everything that we provide to our sovereign wealth fund 767 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,000 Speaker 4: clients that we provide to our institutional clients. 768 00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:07,800 Speaker 3: It's all allocated across equally, so there's no cherry picking. 769 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,360 Speaker 4: There's no sort of different strategies for the wealth vehicle 770 00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,440 Speaker 4: as there is for the institutional vehicle. 771 00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:13,720 Speaker 3: It's a single vehicle. 772 00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,000 Speaker 4: And then I think the other key aspect of our 773 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:19,959 Speaker 4: investment program, which is sort of where why we've landed 774 00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:22,480 Speaker 4: where we've landed in terms of our fundraising last year, 775 00:41:22,520 --> 00:41:25,200 Speaker 4: we've you know, for example, we've just announced our closing 776 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 4: of our Asia Fund, which is a fifteen billion dollar fund. 777 00:41:27,520 --> 00:41:29,719 Speaker 4: It's the largest fund ever raised in Asia, fifteen point 778 00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,359 Speaker 4: six billion dollars. The reason we've been able to achieve 779 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 4: this is because of our exits and liquidity. 780 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,440 Speaker 3: Profile of our investment program. 781 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,319 Speaker 4: It's been a tough environment for exit liquid It's one 782 00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:41,920 Speaker 4: of the challenges that you read a lot about in 783 00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:44,240 Speaker 4: our industry. We actually had a record year for exits 784 00:41:44,280 --> 00:41:48,840 Speaker 4: last year at eqtiion dollars. We had forty billion dollars 785 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:53,279 Speaker 4: in distributions. It's huge, it's huge, it's a reck It's. 786 00:41:53,239 --> 00:41:57,080 Speaker 2: More than ten percent of total investment dollars. That's tremendous. 787 00:41:57,160 --> 00:41:59,239 Speaker 4: It's actually about thirty percent of the navy of the 788 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:03,800 Speaker 4: strategies that that covers. And if you look at active 789 00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:08,920 Speaker 4: funds and if you look at the liquidity profile there, 790 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 4: it even included a significant amount of tapping into the 791 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:15,040 Speaker 4: equity capital markets, the public markets, so we were actually 792 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:19,480 Speaker 4: the number one ECM firm last year. We had fifteen 793 00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:22,960 Speaker 4: billion dollars of equity capital markets activity, ranked number one 794 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:25,439 Speaker 4: by far actually relative all the other private equity firms 795 00:42:25,480 --> 00:42:28,760 Speaker 4: out there, on the back of just having some really 796 00:42:28,760 --> 00:42:31,080 Speaker 4: interesting assets that the market. 797 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:31,359 Speaker 3: Was open for. 798 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,799 Speaker 2: Meaning when you have a liquidity event, that money just 799 00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:39,840 Speaker 2: doesn't sit in bonds, you put it actively into equity markets. 800 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,560 Speaker 4: Now, meaning that we're able to take our companies public 801 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,520 Speaker 4: or sell down through the public markets as an avenue 802 00:42:45,520 --> 00:42:48,319 Speaker 4: of getting liquidity versus just trying to sell to other 803 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,640 Speaker 4: buyout funds or sell to strategic buyers. Those deals have 804 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:54,200 Speaker 4: been a bit slower, and even the IPO markets have 805 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:57,200 Speaker 4: been challenging, but we were within a challenging IPO market, 806 00:42:57,440 --> 00:42:59,680 Speaker 4: we had the highest level of activity of all other 807 00:42:59,719 --> 00:43:01,719 Speaker 4: market market participants. 808 00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:06,799 Speaker 2: It's amazing. My bias is not thinking IPO because of 809 00:43:06,800 --> 00:43:09,600 Speaker 2: what we've seen the past five years, but thinking some 810 00:43:09,680 --> 00:43:12,520 Speaker 2: exit and then just parked the cash there. I have 811 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:16,040 Speaker 2: it exactly backwards. You exit through the IPO market and 812 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:18,799 Speaker 2: then you distribute the cash. 813 00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:19,440 Speaker 3: To LPs exactly. 814 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:22,080 Speaker 4: Our biggest exit last year globally as a group was 815 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:26,720 Speaker 4: a company called Galderma which is a European medical aesthetics 816 00:43:26,800 --> 00:43:31,640 Speaker 4: business providing medical asthetic products including things like botox and 817 00:43:31,640 --> 00:43:34,560 Speaker 4: you that have been on the rise and you know, 818 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:40,000 Speaker 4: completely uncorrelated to AI. This location and an investment that 819 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:43,919 Speaker 4: did extremely well for us. In total over the last 820 00:43:43,920 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 4: two or three years since we took it public, we 821 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,879 Speaker 4: realized something like twenty four billion dollars of distributions from 822 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:52,799 Speaker 4: that single investment. Last year alone, we sold over eight 823 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:56,400 Speaker 4: billion dollars in one single trunch, which was the largest 824 00:43:56,400 --> 00:44:00,000 Speaker 4: transaction ever completed in the public markets by private equi 825 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:02,279 Speaker 4: be firm. So the point of all this is just 826 00:44:02,320 --> 00:44:04,960 Speaker 4: really to say that in a tough market where liquidity, 827 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:08,319 Speaker 4: where people are looking for distributions, it's nice to be 828 00:44:08,360 --> 00:44:13,440 Speaker 4: diversified globally where you're not tying all your liquidity proceeds 829 00:44:13,719 --> 00:44:16,359 Speaker 4: to a single strategy or a single market, but you 830 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 4: have exposure to multiple markets and you're getting cash back 831 00:44:19,000 --> 00:44:21,600 Speaker 4: from different strategies to give you that cash that you 832 00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:24,319 Speaker 4: need at a time when you're lacking distributions from other 833 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:25,440 Speaker 4: parts of your portfolio. 834 00:44:25,640 --> 00:44:29,040 Speaker 2: Really fascinating. Coming up, we continue our conversation with Joan 835 00:44:29,160 --> 00:44:34,520 Speaker 2: Eric Salada, chairman of EQT Group, discussing the combination of 836 00:44:34,640 --> 00:44:39,680 Speaker 2: BPEA and EQT. I'm Barry Ritults. You're listening to Masters 837 00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:59,680 Speaker 2: in Business on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Barry Ridults. You're listening 838 00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:03,480 Speaker 2: to Asters in Business on Bloomberg Radio. My extra special 839 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:07,000 Speaker 2: guest this week is Jean Eric Salata. He is chair 840 00:45:07,120 --> 00:45:12,080 Speaker 2: of EQT Group, one of the largest alternative managers outside 841 00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:16,120 Speaker 2: of the US. They managed three hundred and sixteen billion dollars. 842 00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,640 Speaker 2: So let's talk a little bit about the state of 843 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:25,520 Speaker 2: alternatives and markets in the current environment. You mentioned artificial intelligence, 844 00:45:26,280 --> 00:45:31,799 Speaker 2: energy transition, healthcare, digitalization. What has you most excited in 845 00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:33,839 Speaker 2: Asia over the coming decade. 846 00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:37,360 Speaker 4: I think in Asia, as we were touching on a 847 00:45:37,360 --> 00:45:40,120 Speaker 4: little earlier, there's a couple of big themes that we're 848 00:45:40,120 --> 00:45:43,680 Speaker 4: excited about. One is this sort of CAPEC supercycle, which 849 00:45:43,719 --> 00:45:46,640 Speaker 4: is feeding through the Asian supply chain. You know, when 850 00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:52,200 Speaker 4: you're talking about building data centers or semiconductor memory chips 851 00:45:52,200 --> 00:45:54,480 Speaker 4: and so on, there's a whole supply chain that feeds 852 00:45:54,480 --> 00:45:57,320 Speaker 4: into that. Whether it's the cooling, whether it's the grid, 853 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 4: whether it's the capital equipment that's used to manufacture, the 854 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:06,480 Speaker 4: testing equipment, the services around that. So there is a 855 00:46:06,520 --> 00:46:12,239 Speaker 4: whole supply chain that's seeing elevated activity and growth. I 856 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:16,240 Speaker 4: think the number is something like an incremental five trillion 857 00:46:16,280 --> 00:46:20,000 Speaker 4: dollars of CAPEX being spent in Asia within the industrial 858 00:46:20,080 --> 00:46:22,919 Speaker 4: supply chain between now and the next Over the next 859 00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:26,040 Speaker 4: five years, it's growing at about fifteen percent a year, 860 00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:31,439 Speaker 4: so you've got a healthy growth, tremendous CAPEC spend. It's 861 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:33,480 Speaker 4: a little bit of the picks and shovels approach to 862 00:46:33,719 --> 00:46:36,719 Speaker 4: you have this tremendous boom and AI that you know 863 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:40,120 Speaker 4: that's feeding through. There's knock on effects into the supply chain, 864 00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,080 Speaker 4: and Asia's pretty well positioned to participate in that. You 865 00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:45,880 Speaker 4: look at markets like Korea, you look at markets like Japan. 866 00:46:45,960 --> 00:46:49,200 Speaker 4: Those are probably two of the biggest beneficiaries certain parts 867 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:52,359 Speaker 4: of Southeast Asia as well, so we're excited about that. 868 00:46:53,200 --> 00:46:55,279 Speaker 4: I think the second big opportunity we touched on it 869 00:46:55,280 --> 00:46:58,239 Speaker 4: earlier as well, is just the Japanese bio market. And 870 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 4: you know, the level of reform that you're seeing there 871 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:07,080 Speaker 4: driving increased deal flow, driving really what I call the 872 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:12,960 Speaker 4: excess returns opportunities that private equity really is good at 873 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:16,239 Speaker 4: and should be focusing on the days of you know, 874 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:21,800 Speaker 4: buying under managed assets, either either changing the management or 875 00:47:21,880 --> 00:47:24,920 Speaker 4: enhancing the strategy of the business in order to close 876 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:27,520 Speaker 4: the gap between the operating performance of the business and 877 00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:29,360 Speaker 4: the full potential of the business. That's kind of the 878 00:47:29,400 --> 00:47:32,799 Speaker 4: traditional playbook of private equity. It's gotten harder to do 879 00:47:32,840 --> 00:47:36,000 Speaker 4: in parts of the market that have become more efficient. Globally, 880 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:38,080 Speaker 4: you have a lot of shareholder activism already, so most 881 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:40,840 Speaker 4: public companies are already doing what they should be doing, 882 00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:44,800 Speaker 4: but in Japan they're a little bit still further behind. 883 00:47:44,920 --> 00:47:47,480 Speaker 4: And now you see a big push by the Japanese 884 00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:52,560 Speaker 4: authorities and political leadership to drive efficiency in their economy 885 00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:55,200 Speaker 4: and to drive corporate governance reforms, which is trying to 886 00:47:55,239 --> 00:47:59,160 Speaker 4: close this gap between full potential and performance, and as 887 00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:03,000 Speaker 4: a result, a lot more assets being sold, either corporate divestitures, 888 00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:07,799 Speaker 4: take privates, or generational change happening with founder led businesses 889 00:48:08,160 --> 00:48:10,640 Speaker 4: where you're buying business and you really see the opportunity 890 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:14,399 Speaker 4: to simplify and improve execution. It's really about that. It's 891 00:48:14,440 --> 00:48:18,719 Speaker 4: about sort of like focusing the business and fewer areas 892 00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:22,760 Speaker 4: and then improving execution on management. 893 00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:26,160 Speaker 2: Let's talk about energy transition. It feels like here in 894 00:48:26,200 --> 00:48:28,759 Speaker 2: the United States, we're sort of backing away from a 895 00:48:28,800 --> 00:48:33,280 Speaker 2: lot of alternatives. Asia seems to be full speed ahead. 896 00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:37,640 Speaker 2: What are you seeing as opportunities in that space and where. 897 00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:41,440 Speaker 4: Yeah, we see a lot of opportunities across both Europe 898 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:45,719 Speaker 4: and Asia in the energy transition. It's you know what's 899 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:47,520 Speaker 4: going on now in the Middle East as well. It's 900 00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:50,320 Speaker 4: kind of driving home the point that energy security is 901 00:48:50,719 --> 00:48:54,439 Speaker 4: going to be even more critical in the future. There 902 00:48:54,520 --> 00:48:59,719 Speaker 4: is a tremendous technological push of innovation coming out of 903 00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:03,080 Speaker 4: China in terms of supply chain for batteries, for solar, 904 00:49:03,960 --> 00:49:07,359 Speaker 4: even areas like hydrogen. You're starting to see a lot 905 00:49:07,400 --> 00:49:12,040 Speaker 4: of very interesting scaled up innovation there. We have a 906 00:49:12,040 --> 00:49:15,520 Speaker 4: big infrastructure business in Asia that invests in the energy transition. 907 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:18,320 Speaker 4: We invest in battery storage, for example. We have a 908 00:49:18,360 --> 00:49:20,960 Speaker 4: big business in Australia. Now Australia is as big in 909 00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:24,400 Speaker 4: this area. We expect to see more opportunities there. Singapore 910 00:49:24,480 --> 00:49:26,920 Speaker 4: has been a leader actually in funding the energy transition 911 00:49:27,640 --> 00:49:31,360 Speaker 4: throughout Southeast Asia. Very forward thinking, i would say, in 912 00:49:31,400 --> 00:49:36,640 Speaker 4: that regard, and it's just a large investment opportunity that 913 00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:42,160 Speaker 4: ultimately with energy transition, with climate related concerns. You know, 914 00:49:42,239 --> 00:49:46,200 Speaker 4: the real catalyst here is ultimately going to be is 915 00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:50,319 Speaker 4: already having having to be the market forces that drive 916 00:49:50,360 --> 00:49:53,480 Speaker 4: this forward. It has to be that it's more cost competitive. 917 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:57,239 Speaker 4: It's more cost effective to do things using electricity in 918 00:49:57,280 --> 00:50:01,000 Speaker 4: the grid than it is using fossil fuels. Otherwise, if 919 00:50:01,000 --> 00:50:04,000 Speaker 4: it's not more cost effective, the market forces aren't really 920 00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:06,560 Speaker 4: at play, and you're relying on policy or you're relying 921 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:10,640 Speaker 4: on philanthropy. It's just harder to see the sing scale. 922 00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:13,160 Speaker 4: But we're getting to this tipping point where the cost 923 00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:17,080 Speaker 4: curves are coming down, the security concerns are becoming real, 924 00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:21,120 Speaker 4: and when that happens, then you know, with scale, with volumes, 925 00:50:21,520 --> 00:50:24,840 Speaker 4: whether it's evy batteries, whether it's solar panels, you're starting 926 00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,920 Speaker 4: to see the big uptake and the movement in that direction. 927 00:50:28,120 --> 00:50:30,640 Speaker 2: We're getting a sense in the United States that the 928 00:50:30,680 --> 00:50:32,840 Speaker 2: war and Iran and the shunning of the straight or 929 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:39,520 Speaker 2: hormos is paradoxically accelerating the move away from gas, oil 930 00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:45,840 Speaker 2: crew coal even towards alternatives. What's the perspective like from Asia? 931 00:50:46,719 --> 00:50:47,560 Speaker 3: I would agree with that. 932 00:50:47,640 --> 00:50:51,320 Speaker 4: I think that the energy security is top of mind, 933 00:50:52,560 --> 00:50:55,319 Speaker 4: and you know, certainly China has moved very much in 934 00:50:55,360 --> 00:50:59,640 Speaker 4: this direction, have the largest installed base of renewable energy, 935 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:03,759 Speaker 4: they're the largest investor in renewable energy globally, and they're 936 00:51:03,800 --> 00:51:08,720 Speaker 4: moving in that direction, probably mainly for energy security reasons 937 00:51:09,160 --> 00:51:12,480 Speaker 4: as well as global competitiveness reasons. And then eventually it 938 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:14,560 Speaker 4: also is going to come. I mean, there is still 939 00:51:14,840 --> 00:51:17,680 Speaker 4: multi decade run in fossil fuels, for sure that's going 940 00:51:17,719 --> 00:51:21,200 Speaker 4: to play out. But ultimately there's going to be a 941 00:51:21,239 --> 00:51:23,960 Speaker 4: cost issue related to fossil fuels. And if you want 942 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:27,080 Speaker 4: to be competitive as an economy, what's your cost of energy? 943 00:51:27,440 --> 00:51:30,239 Speaker 4: You know, what is a scarce resource? If the cost 944 00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:32,799 Speaker 4: of energy is going higher and higher versus the other 945 00:51:32,920 --> 00:51:34,920 Speaker 4: alternatives out there, if you haven't invested in that, you're 946 00:51:34,920 --> 00:51:37,239 Speaker 4: playing catchup. It will feed through to the rest of 947 00:51:37,280 --> 00:51:40,239 Speaker 4: the industrial base. And I think this is where it's 948 00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:42,440 Speaker 4: important to take a long term perspective and where private 949 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:45,120 Speaker 4: equity can play a role in sort of thinking through 950 00:51:45,160 --> 00:51:47,640 Speaker 4: the next five ten years. How do you make companies 951 00:51:47,680 --> 00:51:50,200 Speaker 4: more competitive, how do you drive innovation, how do you 952 00:51:50,280 --> 00:51:54,759 Speaker 4: drive investment in energy competitiveness and the energy transition To 953 00:51:54,840 --> 00:51:55,879 Speaker 4: help this happen. 954 00:51:56,000 --> 00:52:00,400 Speaker 2: We haven't really talked about India, which has always like 955 00:52:00,480 --> 00:52:02,839 Speaker 2: it was, oh, two years away, this is really going 956 00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:07,120 Speaker 2: to be in the next powerhouse economy always feels like 957 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:11,160 Speaker 2: it's on the verge. What are you seeing there? It 958 00:52:11,280 --> 00:52:13,520 Speaker 2: kind of look feels like one of the more compelling 959 00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:15,040 Speaker 2: growth stories I think. 960 00:52:15,080 --> 00:52:17,280 Speaker 4: I like India a lot. We're very, very bullish on India. 961 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:19,200 Speaker 4: It's been the biggest market for US over the last 962 00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,480 Speaker 4: five years of where we've invested. Historically, the story has 963 00:52:22,480 --> 00:52:25,400 Speaker 4: been a lot about technology investments in the tech services 964 00:52:25,400 --> 00:52:29,800 Speaker 4: industry primarily, which has been a beneficiary of global investment 965 00:52:29,840 --> 00:52:33,080 Speaker 4: in technology and the tech stack and the migration to 966 00:52:33,120 --> 00:52:35,799 Speaker 4: the cloud. That has hit a little bit of a 967 00:52:35,840 --> 00:52:38,719 Speaker 4: disruption now with what's going on with AI, but they're 968 00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:42,400 Speaker 4: quickly adapting to it and using AI tools to actually 969 00:52:42,680 --> 00:52:46,839 Speaker 4: make enterprises more competitive and to help diffuse AI into 970 00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:49,759 Speaker 4: the enterprise using the skills. And they have a you know, 971 00:52:50,440 --> 00:52:56,680 Speaker 4: millions of computer technology programmers and labor available to help 972 00:52:56,760 --> 00:52:58,680 Speaker 4: drive AI adoption, which is one of the things that 973 00:52:58,760 --> 00:53:02,160 Speaker 4: India is very comparitive in. But the bigger story in India, 974 00:53:02,200 --> 00:53:04,279 Speaker 4: I think for the next five years is more about 975 00:53:04,320 --> 00:53:07,600 Speaker 4: the consumer and the growth in the middle class and 976 00:53:08,440 --> 00:53:11,720 Speaker 4: one of the big beneficiaries of the growing middle class 977 00:53:11,800 --> 00:53:14,600 Speaker 4: as you're now seeing a huge increase now in you know, 978 00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:17,319 Speaker 4: it's the largest population in the world, one point four 979 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:20,000 Speaker 4: billion people. It's also the youngest population in the world, 980 00:53:20,080 --> 00:53:22,759 Speaker 4: so the demographics are very favorable. And one of the 981 00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:24,920 Speaker 4: big early beneficiaries that we're starting to see on the 982 00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:26,640 Speaker 4: ground in India is the healthcare sector. 983 00:53:27,400 --> 00:53:28,360 Speaker 3: Housing and healthcare. 984 00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:30,480 Speaker 4: You know, the first thing that people do when they 985 00:53:30,520 --> 00:53:34,120 Speaker 4: start to save and generate a good income, they buy 986 00:53:34,200 --> 00:53:36,640 Speaker 4: home and then they want to make sure their family 987 00:53:36,680 --> 00:53:38,960 Speaker 4: as well, look after their parents and their children well 988 00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,800 Speaker 4: looked after from a healthcare standpoint. So we're seeing strong 989 00:53:41,840 --> 00:53:46,279 Speaker 4: demand for housing, housing, finance, and for healthcare, which is 990 00:53:46,280 --> 00:53:48,040 Speaker 4: some of the areas that we're investing in India. 991 00:53:48,680 --> 00:53:52,480 Speaker 2: So I'm going to paraphrase a quote of yours. Talent 992 00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:56,080 Speaker 2: is the key to unlocking outsize returns and private equity. 993 00:53:57,280 --> 00:54:00,200 Speaker 2: You're looking in India, you're looking in China and Japan, Korea, 994 00:54:00,360 --> 00:54:04,400 Speaker 2: Europe and the United States. How do you find and 995 00:54:04,480 --> 00:54:11,120 Speaker 2: develop management teams in such a broad diverse selection of regions. 996 00:54:11,160 --> 00:54:14,719 Speaker 2: That sounds like that is its own specific challenge. 997 00:54:15,040 --> 00:54:17,080 Speaker 4: It is, and I think one of the things that 998 00:54:17,160 --> 00:54:20,640 Speaker 4: we've learned over the years is the importance of being 999 00:54:20,680 --> 00:54:22,680 Speaker 4: able to be what we call an active owner in 1000 00:54:22,719 --> 00:54:25,600 Speaker 4: the businesses that we buy, which has really meant that 1001 00:54:25,800 --> 00:54:29,839 Speaker 4: we've really migrated primarily to a control biot strategy other 1002 00:54:29,920 --> 00:54:32,239 Speaker 4: than in our early stage tech strategies, but in our 1003 00:54:32,239 --> 00:54:35,040 Speaker 4: main strategies, we're a buyout investor, which means we have control, 1004 00:54:35,520 --> 00:54:39,600 Speaker 4: and I think having control enables you to really affect 1005 00:54:39,719 --> 00:54:42,920 Speaker 4: change in the business and collapses this sort of agency 1006 00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:45,799 Speaker 4: problem that you see between ownership and management and many 1007 00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:48,360 Speaker 4: other markets around the world, and Asia is no exception. 1008 00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:51,120 Speaker 4: We're starting to collapse that and see that collapse in 1009 00:54:51,160 --> 00:54:54,640 Speaker 4: Asia through the ownership model that the governance modelbly that 1010 00:54:54,680 --> 00:54:57,040 Speaker 4: private equity brings when they invest, when we invest as 1011 00:54:57,040 --> 00:54:59,719 Speaker 4: an industry, and as a result, as we've scaled our 1012 00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:03,040 Speaker 4: business over time, you're starting to be able to really 1013 00:55:03,080 --> 00:55:05,279 Speaker 4: develop pools of talent. So, for example, we have seven 1014 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:09,000 Speaker 4: eight hundred what we call industrial advisors across globally across 1015 00:55:09,040 --> 00:55:12,920 Speaker 4: EQT from different industrial sectors and different sectors that we 1016 00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:16,040 Speaker 4: invest in, and we tap into those to come and 1017 00:55:16,040 --> 00:55:18,640 Speaker 4: become what we call our non executive chairs or independent 1018 00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:20,880 Speaker 4: non executive chairman, So we have a chairman that we 1019 00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:23,520 Speaker 4: bring in from industry. We usually have a CEO, either 1020 00:55:23,560 --> 00:55:25,880 Speaker 4: existing CEO or new CEO, and then we have our 1021 00:55:25,920 --> 00:55:29,040 Speaker 4: deal partner. And that combination of those three people is 1022 00:55:29,080 --> 00:55:32,400 Speaker 4: the governance structure for our investments that drive the active 1023 00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:36,799 Speaker 4: ownership model for our business. We also are seeing a 1024 00:55:36,960 --> 00:55:39,719 Speaker 4: bigger pool of domestic talent now that we're able to 1025 00:55:39,760 --> 00:55:44,960 Speaker 4: develop within say Japan, within India through multiple private equity 1026 00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:49,920 Speaker 4: back investments that we've made, where the same CEO, for example, 1027 00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:52,080 Speaker 4: that we work with before, we can work with that 1028 00:55:52,120 --> 00:55:56,000 Speaker 4: same individual again because the model now has been tried 1029 00:55:56,040 --> 00:55:58,560 Speaker 4: and tested and been around for a couple of decades. 1030 00:55:58,719 --> 00:56:01,480 Speaker 4: So you're developing much deeper bench of talent in private 1031 00:56:01,480 --> 00:56:04,759 Speaker 4: equity in Asia than you've had in the past, and 1032 00:56:04,800 --> 00:56:07,040 Speaker 4: that's been I think a key driver returns the combination 1033 00:56:07,120 --> 00:56:11,080 Speaker 4: of governance through the buyout strategy plus the talent pool 1034 00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:11,879 Speaker 4: that's available now. 1035 00:56:12,280 --> 00:56:14,359 Speaker 2: I have one last question before we get to our 1036 00:56:14,400 --> 00:56:16,840 Speaker 2: favorites that we ask all our guests. What do you 1037 00:56:16,840 --> 00:56:20,280 Speaker 2: think investors are not either talking about or thinking about 1038 00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:25,560 Speaker 2: but should be when it comes to private equity, Different geographies, 1039 00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:32,040 Speaker 2: different regulatory policy changes. What is getting either undernoticed or overlooked, 1040 00:56:32,560 --> 00:56:33,240 Speaker 2: but shouldn't. 1041 00:56:34,760 --> 00:56:37,439 Speaker 4: I think one of the really interesting developments is what's 1042 00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:41,760 Speaker 4: happening in the convergence between both public and private markets, 1043 00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:44,800 Speaker 4: so companies staying private longer, and the sort of blurring 1044 00:56:44,840 --> 00:56:46,719 Speaker 4: of the lines there. How you get exposure if you're 1045 00:56:46,760 --> 00:56:49,200 Speaker 4: an investor to the best businesses in the world, do 1046 00:56:49,239 --> 00:56:51,080 Speaker 4: you wait till they become public or do you do 1047 00:56:51,120 --> 00:56:54,560 Speaker 4: it before they become public? You know the historically it 1048 00:56:54,600 --> 00:56:57,759 Speaker 4: was a very small minority of institutional investors really that 1049 00:56:57,840 --> 00:56:59,360 Speaker 4: got exposure to private markets. 1050 00:56:59,480 --> 00:57:01,200 Speaker 3: Individual VESH has almost had zero. 1051 00:57:01,640 --> 00:57:03,960 Speaker 4: That's changed a lot in the last few years, but 1052 00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:06,040 Speaker 4: it's going to change, I think, even more as we 1053 00:57:06,160 --> 00:57:08,239 Speaker 4: move into in the coming years and people start to 1054 00:57:08,239 --> 00:57:11,359 Speaker 4: participate more. The democratization of our asset class that people 1055 00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:14,000 Speaker 4: talk about, I think is a big trend. Related to 1056 00:57:14,040 --> 00:57:17,640 Speaker 4: that is the kind of blurring of the lines between 1057 00:57:18,040 --> 00:57:21,800 Speaker 4: or convergence between the secondary market and the primary market 1058 00:57:21,800 --> 00:57:24,400 Speaker 4: of private equity. You know, those twosed to be viewed 1059 00:57:24,400 --> 00:57:28,160 Speaker 4: as completely different things. You invest in a private equity fund, 1060 00:57:28,480 --> 00:57:30,480 Speaker 4: if you can't get your money back after seven or 1061 00:57:30,520 --> 00:57:33,040 Speaker 4: eight years, you find someone to buy those interests from you. 1062 00:57:33,120 --> 00:57:35,840 Speaker 3: And that's a secondary market that has changed. 1063 00:57:36,840 --> 00:57:39,640 Speaker 4: If you think about the public markets, when you invest 1064 00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:42,880 Speaker 4: in a stock, you're buying a secondary position. You're buying 1065 00:57:42,880 --> 00:57:45,200 Speaker 4: when you buy Apple stock today, you're buying from someone 1066 00:57:45,240 --> 00:57:47,800 Speaker 4: who's selling it to you. You're buying a secondary You're 1067 00:57:47,800 --> 00:57:49,720 Speaker 4: not buying the IPO of Apple. That was a primary 1068 00:57:49,720 --> 00:57:51,800 Speaker 4: that happened twenty five years ago. Same things happened in 1069 00:57:51,840 --> 00:57:54,640 Speaker 4: private equity is that you know all the companies that 1070 00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:56,920 Speaker 4: are private. In order to buy them, you had to 1071 00:57:56,920 --> 00:57:59,040 Speaker 4: buy them as a primary through a fund that bought 1072 00:57:59,080 --> 00:58:02,240 Speaker 4: the company as a private deal. Well, now we have 1073 00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:05,040 Speaker 4: three point eight trillion dollars of private companies out there 1074 00:58:05,040 --> 00:58:08,960 Speaker 4: that are unrealized that everybody is complaining about. That actually 1075 00:58:09,080 --> 00:58:13,400 Speaker 4: is the foundation of a secondary market now in private companies, 1076 00:58:13,440 --> 00:58:16,840 Speaker 4: private assets that you and I and others can start 1077 00:58:16,880 --> 00:58:19,240 Speaker 4: to participate in through the secondary market. 1078 00:58:19,680 --> 00:58:22,680 Speaker 3: You don't need to find a new deal to buy. 1079 00:58:22,720 --> 00:58:24,880 Speaker 4: You can buy an existing business that's privately owned if 1080 00:58:24,880 --> 00:58:27,040 Speaker 4: you like it, if it's got great return potential, if 1081 00:58:27,040 --> 00:58:30,400 Speaker 4: it's the right price. It's another way to get exposure 1082 00:58:30,440 --> 00:58:34,520 Speaker 4: to the asset class through these evergreen structures, for example, 1083 00:58:34,520 --> 00:58:38,520 Speaker 4: and particularly through the credit through the secondary markets structures, 1084 00:58:39,200 --> 00:58:41,120 Speaker 4: which is the way a lot of institutional investors starting 1085 00:58:41,120 --> 00:58:43,040 Speaker 4: to think about it. If I want to dial up 1086 00:58:43,160 --> 00:58:46,000 Speaker 4: or dial down my exposure private markets, I can use 1087 00:58:46,040 --> 00:58:48,760 Speaker 4: secondary structures. I don't need to invest in a private 1088 00:58:48,880 --> 00:58:50,439 Speaker 4: in a private equity fund, per se. 1089 00:58:50,720 --> 00:58:52,680 Speaker 3: I can do that through the secondary markets. 1090 00:58:52,800 --> 00:58:55,640 Speaker 2: So let's jump to our speed round, starting with who 1091 00:58:55,640 --> 00:58:58,000 Speaker 2: are your early mentors who helped shape your career. 1092 00:58:58,440 --> 00:58:59,240 Speaker 3: I was very lucky. 1093 00:58:59,280 --> 00:59:01,360 Speaker 4: I had a third grade teacher that kind of took 1094 00:59:01,400 --> 00:59:04,440 Speaker 4: an interest in me and kept me after school to 1095 00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:07,480 Speaker 4: help me work on independent projects and was like an 1096 00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:11,520 Speaker 4: outlet from my creativity that I felt was frustrated in class. 1097 00:59:11,840 --> 00:59:13,480 Speaker 3: Really amazing teacher. 1098 00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:15,520 Speaker 2: Let's talk about books. What are some of your favorites? 1099 00:59:15,560 --> 00:59:16,520 Speaker 2: What are you reading currently? 1100 00:59:17,080 --> 00:59:19,840 Speaker 4: I read a great book called Why the West Rules 1101 00:59:19,880 --> 00:59:22,840 Speaker 4: for Now, which is a sweeping history of why the 1102 00:59:22,880 --> 00:59:25,560 Speaker 4: Industrial Revolution happened in the West and not in Asia 1103 00:59:25,680 --> 00:59:28,800 Speaker 4: in the east. But it talks about how going forward 1104 00:59:28,920 --> 00:59:32,560 Speaker 4: that could change, and it's if anybody's interested in history, 1105 00:59:32,560 --> 00:59:33,720 Speaker 4: I highly recommend that book. 1106 00:59:34,120 --> 00:59:34,640 Speaker 3: Really good. 1107 00:59:35,120 --> 00:59:37,640 Speaker 2: Final two questions, what sort of advice would you give 1108 00:59:37,640 --> 00:59:42,080 Speaker 2: a recent college grad interested in a career in either 1109 00:59:42,160 --> 00:59:43,680 Speaker 2: investing or private equity. 1110 00:59:44,920 --> 00:59:45,800 Speaker 3: Two things I would say. 1111 00:59:45,800 --> 00:59:48,160 Speaker 4: One is you need to be AI native these days, 1112 00:59:48,360 --> 00:59:50,400 Speaker 4: which is not the case obviously when I was starting out. 1113 00:59:50,440 --> 00:59:54,439 Speaker 4: And secondly, perseverance, don't give up. Stay in the game 1114 00:59:54,560 --> 00:59:57,080 Speaker 4: because things come and go, you get knocked down, get 1115 00:59:57,120 --> 00:59:59,880 Speaker 4: back up, you stay in the game and new opportunities. 1116 01:00:00,600 --> 01:00:03,440 Speaker 2: Final question, what do you know about the world of 1117 01:00:03,720 --> 01:00:08,840 Speaker 2: private equity, private real estate, credit, infrastructure alternatives today might 1118 01:00:08,840 --> 01:00:11,280 Speaker 2: have been useful back in the nineties when you're really 1119 01:00:11,640 --> 01:00:12,800 Speaker 2: getting your legs under you. 1120 01:00:14,120 --> 01:00:16,160 Speaker 4: This so called eighth wonder of the world, which is 1121 01:00:16,480 --> 01:00:19,800 Speaker 4: the power of compounding. I I wish i'd appreciate that 1122 01:00:19,840 --> 01:00:22,800 Speaker 4: a bit more after thirty years of investing, you'd let 1123 01:00:22,920 --> 01:00:25,560 Speaker 4: something ride for thirty years. Generally, if it's a decent business, 1124 01:00:25,600 --> 01:00:26,640 Speaker 4: it'll be worth a lot of money. 1125 01:00:27,680 --> 01:00:30,920 Speaker 2: Jean Eric, this has been absolutely fascinating. Thank you for 1126 01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:34,160 Speaker 2: being so generous with your time. We have been speaking 1127 01:00:34,160 --> 01:00:39,320 Speaker 2: with Jean Eric Salada, chair of the EQT Group. If 1128 01:00:39,320 --> 01:00:42,000 Speaker 2: you enjoy this conversation, well check out any of the 1129 01:00:42,040 --> 01:00:45,800 Speaker 2: six hundred and forty we've done over the previous fourteen years. 1130 01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:51,200 Speaker 2: You can find those at iTunes, Spotify, Bloomberg YouTube, wherever 1131 01:00:51,280 --> 01:00:54,880 Speaker 2: you get your favorite podcasts. I would be remiss if 1132 01:00:54,920 --> 01:00:57,000 Speaker 2: I didn't thank the crack team that helps put these 1133 01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:02,040 Speaker 2: conversations together each week. Alexis Noriega is my video producer. 1134 01:01:02,120 --> 01:01:06,520 Speaker 2: Sean Russo is my researcher. Anna Luke is our producer. 1135 01:01:07,160 --> 01:01:10,800 Speaker 2: I'm Barry Ritolts. You've been listening to Masters in Business 1136 01:01:11,360 --> 01:01:12,520 Speaker 2: on Bloomberg Radio