‘Lost generation’ on higher rates

ONTARIO: Private equity has to contend with a “lost generation” as interest rates remain higher for longer, according to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan chief strategy officer Jonathan Hausman.

“In the private equity world, we’re probably looking at a little bit of a lost generation of vintage,” Hausman said at the US-Canada Summit in Toronto.

The buyout industry is facing the toughest environment since the 2008 financial crisis. Higher borrowing costs have reduced deals to a trickle, hampering fund managers’ ability to return money to investors such as pension plans, endowments and wealthy individuals.

“The private equity players don’t like to sell their companies” at a discount, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec’s head of private equity, Martin Longchamps, said at the same event. — Bloomberg