Private Equity · Profile from Private Equity Research Companion
Partners Group
A Swiss, publicly listed private-markets manager that started as a fund-of-funds and secondaries investor in 1996, became one of the first listed GPs (2006), and transformed itself into a global direct investor across private equity, infrastructure, real estate and private credit — pioneering semi-liquid "evergreen" vehicles for private wealth.
At a glance
- Founded
- 1996, Zug (today headquartered in Baar-Zug), Switzerland
- Founders
- Urs Wietlisbach, Marcel Erni, Alfred Gantner (all ex-Goldman Sachs)
- Listing
- SIX Swiss Exchange since March 2006 (ticker PGHN)
- AUM
- USD 185bn at 31 December 2025 (up from USD 152bn end-2024); ~USD 30bn new commitments in 2025
- Asset classes
- Private equity (direct, secondaries, primaries), infrastructure, real estate, private credit, royalties
- CEO
- David Layton (CEO since 2019; sole CEO after the co-CEO period); from 1 January 2027 Roberto Cagnati and Juri Jenkner become co-CEOs (announced 1 September 2026; Layton to become CIO and chair the Global Investment Committee; subject to FINMA approval)
- Chair
- Steffen Meister (reported)
10 deals and moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2015
KinderCare
Secondary Buyout
2016
Foncia
Secondary Buyout
2017
Civica
Secondary Buyout
2017
GlobalLogic
Secondary Buyout
2018
Ammega
Merger Platform
2018
Hearthside Food Solutions
Secondary Buyout
2018
Techem
Secondary Buyout / Core-Plus Infrastructure-Style Investment
2020
PCI Pharma Services
Majority Acquisition
2020
Rovensa
Secondary Buyout
2021
Telepass
49% Minority Stake