- Partners Group posts inflows of $16 billion in first half
- Company reconfirms 2026 gross new client demand guidance
- Stock hit in June due to capping of withdrawals from fund
ZURICH, July 15 (Reuters) - Swiss asset manager Partners Group beat expectations on new client demand on Wednesday, shoring up investor confidence in the private equity industry weeks after it capped withdrawals from an open-ended fund and sent its shares plunging.
The company posted inflows of $16 billion in the first half of 2026, bringing assets under management to $186 billion. Analysts at Bank Vontobel had forecast new client demand of $14.5 billion.
Partners Group also reconfirmed its gross new client demand guidance of $26 billion to $32 billion for the full year 2026.
"We are pleased to report record client demand as our differentiated offering and track record continues to attract new and existing clients," CEO David Layton said, while noting the investment environment remains complex.
"Within our portfolio, we see mostly solid performance, though with some challenges concentrated amongst select assets and vintages," he added.
Net flows were only modestly positive as redemptions totaled $3.8 billion, in line with forecasts, 79% of which came from three mature evergreen strategies, Partners Group said.
GATING FUNDS
Partners Group has pioneered popular alternative investments, but its shares are down by about a third this year, spurring a broad retreat in stocks of global asset managers while highlighting a growing mismatch in private markets.
The firm has acknowledged it may slightly reduce the size of its open-ended funds in future, but said it is sticking to its strategy.
Evergreen funds, which do not have a fixed end date, contributed 26% to Partners Group's total new client commitments in the first six months of 2026.
Partners Group said it anticipates that current redemption dynamics will continue for a few quarters, and that this could potentially slow growth in net assets under management by 1% to 2% during the next 18 months.
In the medium term, the company estimates the potential outflows from these funds to be up to $10 billion to $20 billion in a negative scenario, Partners Group said, adding this will be compensated by growth from the broader evergreen platform.
When asked on a call with analysts about how the firm's dividend might be affected going forward, Layton said it was targeting dividend stability and long-term growth.
"One note is that I do expect a debate in our next board meeting around share buyback versus dividend," he added.
Partners Group suffered its worst-ever drubbing in the stock market on June 3 on news it was capping withdrawals from an $8.6 billion private equity fund that saw clients demand their money back.
A day later, sources said the firm planned to gate an even bigger U.S. fund that also saw withdrawals accelerate, in part driven by fears that assets could be overvalued.
Three other mature evergreen funds, with a total of $9.7 billion in assets, anticipated redemptions of between 3.5% and 5%, the company said on June 4.
($1 = 0.8052 Swiss francs)
Reporting by Ariane Luthi and Paolo Laudani; Additional reporting by Oliver Hirt Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus, Dave Graham and Nia Williams
Source: Reuters