November 2025

Hedge funds delivered another positive month in October. Year-to-date gains continued as markets digested softer inflation and resilient earnings while navigating pockets of volatility. The HFRI Fund Weighted Composite Index rose +0.7%.

African businesses face an enormous funding gap between the amount of capital they need to grow and the amount of loans that are provided by local banks. The relative under-capitalisation of the banking sector in Africa, and the fact that the focus of local banks is very often funding the public sector, means that local businesses often cannot access capital.

When Simon Brewer sat down with Neamul Mohsin, the newly appointed Chief Investment Officer of Oxford University Endowment Management, it was clear from the outset that this was no ordinary conversation about asset allocation. Oxford relies on its multi-billion pound endowment to secure its academic and institutional future.

If you follow the money in US private equity, you may end up outside the US, either in Europe, Japan or India. Or so goes the conversations on Zooms and industry panels in my world over the last 12-18 months. That talk has not slowed down as we head into year end, which makes now perhaps a good time to tally deals.

In an era defined by geopolitical uncertainty, inflationary pressures, and volatile markets, investors are searching for stability without sacrificing returns. Increasingly, they are finding it in infrastructure. Our latest PM700 report, a global study capturing insights from more than 700 institutional investors, reveals a striking trend.

Cutting through the noise, renewable energy investing in the US is an attractive way to play the massive growth in power demand driven by AI and data centers. The sector combines strengthening demand and a buyers' market on the supply side. Yet the market continues to underestimate how quickly AI-driven demand will collide with the clean energy buildout.

Everyone talks about AI as the rise of a revolutionary business tool. It's more than that. In truth, it's an industrial revolution, one built on compute. Every technology cycle creates its own kind of infrastructure. The cloud era gave us the warehouses of the internet, built to store, move and monetise data. The AI era is different.

Infrastructure investing has always been about tangible assets with enduring demand; roads, ports, grids, pipelines. Very down to Earth, one might say, essential but unglamorous. Yet, as the global economy moves toward greater resilience, sustainability, and dependency on data, the definition of infrastructure is expanding upward.

The infrastructure investment market, along with its underlying sectors, has always presented an evolving opportunity set. Definitions and sector inclusion of core, core-plus and value-add have matured as certain sectors have developed and reached operational stabilisation. At the same time, the rising cost of capital has put pressure on returns.

The blurring line between traditional real estate and essential infrastructure is rapidly redefining institutional investment strategy. The central premise is that highly specialized physical assets, such as data centres and institutional-grade social housing, are being valued for their indispensable, utility-like function.

Across North America, a quiet but powerful shift is reshaping the agricultural landscape. As the demand for organic and regenerative products continues to grow, so too does the recognition that scaling these systems requires more than individual farm conversions. It requires entire regional ecosystems.

Capital continues to flow to the biggest brands, with Ardian's Infrastructure Fund VI (AIF VI) hitting the $13.5 billion hard cap. The Paris-based firm, which now manages $47 billion in the infrastructure strategy, said US institutions accounted for the largest share.

Manulife Investment Management held the final close of its Infrastructure Fund III, raising $5.5 billion. Focused on core and core-plus assets, the oversubscribed fund targets long-term investments across energy, transportation, digital and social infrastructure, particularly OECD markets.

Little sign of slowdown in LP tech interest as Integrum closed its second fund, Integrum Capital Partners II, at $2.5 billion, exceeding the hard cap. The New York firm, founded by former Goldman Sachs and Blackstone execs, targets technology-enabled and services businesses.

Underscoring strong institutional demand for seasoned private credit strategies, AEA Investors closed a $550 million private debt continuation vehicle led by The Carlyle Group's Carlyle AlpInvest Partners. New York based AEA Private Debt focuses on directly originated senior secured and unitranche loans across diversified sectors in North America.

Better known for its long/short equity strategies, Lone Pine Capital is venturing into new territory with the launch of a volatility-focused fund, writes the Financial Times. The $20 billion manager, long associated with high-conviction stock picking, is making a rare move into macro-style trading.

There is no stopping the big multi-managers. Millennium is in discussions with investors to raise $5 billion for a new vehicle targeting private-market investments, Bloomberg reported. The planned fund, expected to include $3 billion from external investors and $2 billion of internal capital, would mark a significant expansion of the multi-strategy platform.

Elliott Investment Management is raising up to $7 billion for a new draw-down vehicle, effectively a war chest to deploy when market dislocations arise. According to Bloomberg, the fund is designed to give the firm flexibility to act opportunistically across distressed, activist or arbitrage investments. Elliott currently manages around $76 billion.

Point72 Asset Management is reorganising its fundamental equities business into two separate units. According to a memo seen by Bloomberg, the firm will introduce a new brand, Valist, alongside the existing Point72 Equities division from January 2026. Both will operate under the same umbrella but maintain distinct commercial identities.

Izzy Englander has begun the gradual handover of his $65 billion hedge fund empire as Millennium sold a 15% minority stake that values the firm at around $14 billion. This is the first time since founding Millennium in 1989 that Englander has sold equity in his firm. The stake has been acquired by a group of institutional investors led by Petershill Partners PLC.

According to reports, EQT Group is eyeing a strategic move into secondaries, as the Stockholm-listed firm held exploratory talks with several prominent candidates. According to Bloomberg, EQT has engaged in discussions with Coller Capital, HarbourVest Partners and Pantheon, all big players in secondaries investing.

The continued popularity of private equity secondaries has been underscored by Hollyport Capital's latest $4.5 billion fundraise, Hollyport Secondary Opportunities IX, which closed 40% above target, according to PitchBook. The London-based firm, founded in 2006, specialises in acquiring mature LP interests across buyout, venture and growth funds.

Underscoring how traditional financial giants are seeking exposure to established alternative platforms, State Street Investment Management has taken a minority stake in Coller Capital, the London-based pioneer of the private equity secondaries market.

Those lines between public and private markets continue to blur, as banks push deeper into the fast-growing world of alternative assets. Morgan Stanley's agreement to acquire EquityZen highlights how Wall Street is repositioning around the expanding universe of private-company investment.

Andreessen Horowitz's a16z is preparing to raise $10 billion across multiple new funds, its largest capital pool to date. Around $6 billion is expected for later-stage tech, with a further $3 billion allocated to AI infrastructure and applications, underscoring the firm's conviction that innovation remains the ultimate growth engine.

Dawson Partners' $7.7 billion fundraise marks an interesting chapter in the evolution of private equity's secondary market, one that reflects how liquidity demand is reshaping the industry's architecture. Rather than buying LP interests outright, Dawson provides portfolio finance by injecting preferred equity into mature portfolios to release liquidity.

Goldman Sachs is the latest bank to roll out a more accessible route into private markets, with the launch of an ETF designed to replicate private-equity-style returns. Developed with MSCI Inc., the Goldman Sachs MSCI World Private Equity Return Tracker ETF offers liquid, index-based exposure that mirrors private-equity performance.

The acquisition of With Intelligence by S&P Global for $1.8 billion underscores the value of high-quality alternative fund data. In a world where capital flows increasingly through opaque private markets, access to clean, structured information on fund managers, investors, and deal activity has become indispensable and certainly valuable.

Back in January 2025, the government published a new legislative framework for short selling, part of a broader strategy to reform the post-Brexit regulatory landscape. Building on this foundation, the FCA on 28 October 2025 launched consultation CP25/29 proposing changes to the UK short selling regime. It seeks feedback until 16 December 2025.

On 14 October 2025, the FCA published its Consultation Paper CP25/28: Progressing fund tokenisation. This aims to accelerate the adoption of fund tokenisation in the UK. It marks a significant step in modernising the UK asset management landscape, positioning it as a global leader in digital finance innovation.

Client categorisation is currently under heightened regulatory scrutiny. The FCA is particularly focused on the boundary between professional and retail clients, driven in part by evolving expectations under the Consumer Duty. The FCA has announced plans to consult on proposed changes imminently.

The FCA has published the results of its review of financial crime controls at corporate finance firms. The review included gathering firms own assessment of their financial crime risks and interviewing senior staff at selected firms. The FCA asserts that approximately two-thirds of responding firms may not be compliant with the Money Laundering Regulations.

Neil Sedgwick Dwane in 2022 worked as an advisor for ITM Power Plc, an AIM-listed company. In this capacity, he had advance knowledge of the details of an announcement ITM would make to the market on 27 October, following which its share price fell by c 37%. On the day preceding the announcement, Mr Dwane used this insider information.

On 14 October 2025, the FCA announced it had secured US$101 million in redress to UK and other non-US investors in a fund sub-managed by BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP, imposing a public censure on the former hedge fund. Between October 2011 and December 2015, BlueCrest failed to manage fairly a conflict of interest between its dual roles.

As a reminder, the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted amendments to Regulation S-P, with key compliance deadlines fast approaching. SEC registered investment advisers with more than $1.5 billion AUM must comply by December 3, 2025. SEC registered advisers with less than $1.5 billion AUM must comply by June 3, 2026.