Long-term success – near-term opportunity

Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET), which invests alongside some of the best-performing private equity managers, should be well-placed to benefit from an uptick in deal activity that has accompanied falling interest rates in most developed markets.

Following a bumper couple of years for private equity returns on the back of strong deal activity, the last two years have been leaner. However, more deals should pave the way for a recovery in returns.

PPET’s recent positive results, combined with an increase in private equity activity levels in 2025, ought to drive a narrowing of PPET’s significant discount. Moreso now that progress is being made on the cost-disclosure issues (regulatory requirements affecting transparency in investment funds) that have impacted all trusts, but particularly funds-of-funds (investment funds that invest in multiple other funds) such as PPET.

Private equity fund of funds with a European bias

PPET aims to achieve long-term total returns through a diversified portfolio of private equity funds and direct investments, the majority of which will have a European focus.

Its portfolio mid-market focused and is more focused than many of its peers; the top 10 underlying private equity funds accounted for 25.0% of NAV, as at 30 September 2024. Like many private equity funds, PPET has no formal benchmark. Historically, the portfolio has been most-closely correlated to European small-cap indices.

At a glance

Share price and discount

PPET’s share price discount to NAV narrowed at the start of 2024, coinciding with the announcement of its share buyback programme on 25 January 2024. The buyback was funded by proceeds from the reduction of PPET’s investment in Action. PPET retains the authority to repurchase up to 14.99% of its issued share capital, which is renewed annually. Since the initial narrowing, PPET’s discount has remained largely in line with both its long-term average and peer group’s average discount.

Time period 31 January 2020 to 3 February 2025

Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co

Performance over five years

As per PPET’s most recent announcement, it reported NAV per share of 782.2p and total NAV of £1.2bn, as of 31 December 2024. This is up 2.4% on a per-share basis from our last note, which reported a NAV per share of 764.8p, as of 29 February 2024. We note that PPET’s NAV returns would have been even higher were it not for the depreciation of the euro against sterling, which has declined by 2.3% since February.

Time period 31 January 2020 to 31 January 2025

Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co

Fund profile – underlying focus on primary commitments and Europe

Additional information is available at PPET’s website: patriaprivateequitytrust.com

PPET invests in what it deems ‘best-in-class private equity funds’; predominantly by making primary commitments (commitments to invest in new funds), with a core focus on the European mid-market. The aim is to maintain a broadly diversified portfolio by country, industry sector, maturity, and the number of underlying investments.

Historically, PPET has been a fund of funds, making both primary and secondary investments (purchases of stakes in existing funds). In January 2019, shareholders approved changes to the investment objective and policy to allow for direct investments (defined as co-investments and single-asset secondaries – investments made alongside other private equity managers directly in a single unlisted company), and since then it has seen continuous year-on-year growth in its direct investments. As at 30 September 2024, PPET had 32 direct investments.

PPET’s objective is to hold around 50 ’active’ private equity fund investments. This allows for greater diversification, which counterbalances the additional concentration risk from the increasing allocation to direct investments.

Previously, PPET was known as abrdn Private Equity Opportunities (APEO). The trust was rebranded as Patria Private Equity Trust following the purchase of abrdn’s private equity division by Patria in April 2024. There was no change to the team or investment process.

A ‘one-stop-shop’ for European private equity

PPET offers investors a way to tap into the opportunities presented by small and medium-sized European private companies.

The advantages of private equity investing include greater control of a business, allowing private equity managers to focus on making long-term improvements to a business, whether those be driving revenue growth, investing to improve efficiencies or increase the stability of earnings (rather than focusing on quarterly earnings figures, which can happen in listed markets); and the opportunity to get exposure to high-quality companies that are unlisted and intend to remain so (despite the depth of listed markets, there are still many areas that they cannot offer exposure to), particularly with the trend of more companies remaining private for longer.

PPET is distinguished by its focus on European mid-market private equity (companies with an enterprise value of €100m-€1bn at entry), which its managers feel is under-serviced by the private equity industry when compared to the large- and mega-cap space. This means that not only is there less competition for the highest-quality companies, but the companies have greater opportunity for value creation and less reliance on IPO as an exit route, which gives PPET an edge, given their longstanding relationships with Europe’s mid-market-focused managers.

These advantages have been reflected in the long-term returns of PPET, which has, on average, outperformed the listed European small market over the last 20 years (based on its five-year NAV and share price return versus the MSCI Europe Small Cap Index).

Thanks to PPET’s currently wide (26%) discount, there is further potential for its share price returns to exceed its future NAV growth, as the combination of a revitalisation of the European private equity markets (outlined in detail in the next section) and the PPET’s ongoing share buyback policy (outlined on page 24) means that the potential for further narrowing of its discount may be a powerful compounding factor for shareholder returns.

2024 annual results

PPET published its 2024 annual results at the end of January, covering the 12-month period to 30 September 2024, which can be read here. While the key data points from this report are covered in our note, noteworthy highlights include the following:

• The board has proposed changes to PPET’s investment policy, designed to accommodate Patria’s evolving approach to PPET’s portfolio, such as its increased allocation to direct investments. The key changes are as follows:

– Change the expected portfolio allocation to direct investments (investment directly into companies, rather than funds) from a maximum of 25% of assets a range of 20-35%.

– No single fund investment or direct investment may exceed 15% as assets at the time of investment.

– Reduce PPET’s over-commitment ratio (the ratio by which PPET can make commitments in excess of its uninvested capital) from a range of 30-75% over the long term to 30-65%.

– Emphasise that the principal focus of PPET’s investment strategy is the European mid-market.

• Revenue growth remains strong, with the top 100 companies growing their revenue by an average of 12.4% (described on page 13).

• PPET made two significant asset sales over the period: a secondary sale (of a stake in an existing private equity fund) of a of a portfolio of more mature funds, as well as its first sale of a direct investment (described on page 23).

• PPET continues to increase its allocation to direct investments, having made nine new investments over the period, with a quarter of PPET’s assets now held in direct investments.

• While performance has been impacted by adverse exchange rate movements (sterling appreciated against both the dollar and euro), PPET’s NAV returns remain positive, up 2.4% over the financial year. PPET’s portfolio returned 8.8% in local currency terms, with investment sales (excluding secondary sales) achieving an average uplift of 26% (compared to their values six months prior).

• At 24.9% for the period, PPET’s share price total return was significantly higher than its NAV total return, thanks in part to the board’s share buyback initiatives.

• PPET continues to sustain its dividend growth, paying a total dividend of 16.8p per share, a 5% increase year-on-year.

• Thanks to recent changes to cost disclosure rules, PPET has been able to adjust its charges to better represent the costs of operating its strategy – with PPET now ranking as the lowest cost fund relative to its peers (see page 30).

Market overview – activity rebounding

Whilst 2023 marked a low point in European private equity deal activity, reversing its post-COVID levels, 2024 has seen a rebound, with the total value of deals completed during the first three quarters up 37% year-on-year.

Figure 1: Rolling 12-month total European deal value

Source: PitchBook

European private equity activity has begun to rebound from its 2023 downturn.

Higher inflation, and the accompanying interest rate hikes by central banks to tackle this, weighed on the growth outlook during 2022 and into 2023. This, when accompanied by the higher financing costs that higher rates imply, led to a slowdown in both fundraising and deal activity in private markets, reversing the trend of the previous two years, which were blockbuster years for the industry.

Taming risks

Inflation has proven to be more persistent across developed markets, but finally appears to have been brought under control. In recent months, inflation figures in major developed economies have edged closer to the 2% targets set by their respective central banks.

In the US, the election of Trump as president may have increased the likelihood of higher interest rates for longer, as a number of his policies are expected to be inflationary. However, assuming that inflation continues to stabilise in European markets, allowing interest rates to continue to edge down, this should help to stimulate European deal activity.

Figure 2: Eurozone inflation versus private equity deal size

Source: Bloomberg, PitchBook

A stocked war chest

The rebound in private equity activity has been most pronounced in mid-market and smaller transactions. Despite the fall in interest rates, financing costs remain high enough to challenge more-debt-reliant mega-deals. Smaller and mid-sized deals are generally less dependent on leverage, and so tend to be less affected.

The private equity market has also benefitted from the substantial war chests (cash reserves) that private equity firms carried into 2024. These cash reserves resulted from a cautious, wait-and-see approach to market risks, coupled with a steady pace of private equity fundraising. European private equity funds raised approximately €130bn in 2023 – just 3% below the five-year average, a much smaller decline than the drop in total deal value over the same period.

Whilst undeployed capital is a favourable position, it also creates a cash drag (a negative impact due to uninvested capital) on investor returns. The recent easing of market risks may act as a starter pistol for private equity firms eager to deploy their capital reserves.

Private equity cash piles continue to grow, though activity remains concentrated in the higher quality end of the market.

Transactions have increasingly favoured the higher-quality end of the market; a trend has also been observed by the PPET team within its own portfolio, where its investments in “higher-quality” sectors have commanded higher exit multiples (better returns when selling assets).

Kept its head above water

Despite the slowdown in dealmaking, private equity carrying values have performed much better than listed equity share prices. As seen in Figure 3, the net asset value (NAV) returns of European private equity have largely avoided the 2022 sell-off in listed equities, including listed private equity, which was driven by rising inflation and interest rates.

Private equity NAVs are arguably shielded from the near-term, sentiment-driven fluctuations seen in listed equities. The resilience of listed private equity average NAVs suggests that it was largely business as usual for portfolio companies, which remained relatively insulated from rising interest rates and broader economic uncertainties, including political risks and the conflict in Ukraine.

However, the slowdown in dealmaking has constrained the upward valuation of private equity NAVs. Typically, the most significant increases in NAV were driven by transactions rather than accounting revaluations.

Figure 3: Returns of European private equity versus listed

Source: Morningstar. LPX is an index of listed European private equity

Stick with the best

Another reason as to why PPET’s NAV returns have been so stable over recent years may be the team’s focus on the top quartile of funds, and the inherent advantages private mid-market investing can provide. As shown in Figure 4, mid-market private equity funds such as PPET, that have funds sub-$5bn, have outperformed those that have funds in excess of $5bn (i.e. mid-market vs buy-out, with buyout funds preferring larger, more mature companies). Moreover, the top quartile of mid-market funds has achieved nearly 10% outperformance, based on its 20-year IRR – a cohort of funds that Patria prides itself on having access to.

Figure 4: IRR outperformance of mid-cap private equity strategies over the last 20 years

Source: Patria

Patria’s focus on funds that have historically outperformed may explain its resilient NAV, as this cohort of quality companies (and by extension private equity funds) tend to have more resilient revenues thanks to their ability to weather economic downturns.

Investment process

Patria acquired abrdn’s private equity team in April 2024, taking over management of PPET but keeping the same team.

PPET’s board has oversight of strategy, gives guidance to the manager and challenges investment strategy as a minimum on an annual basis. Day-to-day management of the fund is delegated to Patria Private Equity. The team that runs PPET was previously part of abrdn Capital Partners, a wholly-owned subsidiary of abrdn Plc, with Patria acquiring abrdn’s private equity division in April 2024.

New name, same management

Patria acquired abrdn’s private equity division to capitalise on the opportunities within European private equity. The decision was driven by a preference for leveraging abrdn’s team’s existing relationships and local expertise rather than building a team organically.

Aside from the new name, there has been no change to the team’s investment approach. Instead, the acquisition is expected to bring potential benefits, as Patria’s extensive network of private equity investors may increase access to PPET for new shareholders. Furthermore, the team managing PPET’s portfolio has expanded since becoming part of Patria, hiring 15 professionals so that it now numbers around 65.

A mix of top-down and bottom-up

PPET’s portfolio construction committee drives the top-down element of the investment process

An important element in the top-down overlay process (a strategic approach that incorporates macroeconomic factors into investment decisions) is the quarterly Portfolio Construction Committee (PCC) that considers the European macro-environment. Its views inform asset allocation decisions. In practice, asset allocation evolves slowly. The PCC directs geographic focus and generates views on each country to develop convictions on where the best opportunities are.

PPET’s European remit includes the UK. The manager estimates that there are about 1,500 funds in its European universe. It believes about 800 of these to be “institutional grade” and theoretically a fit for its strategy. Through both its origination efforts and its regional experts, PPET aims to track and maintain a deep understanding of all of these funds. Private equity firms in Europe raise capital, on average, every three to five years, so it considers about 150 funds a year. In practice, the filter is tight, and few managers make it through to the final investment list.

The trust goes on to identify its preferred funds in each market (between five and 10) and typically the best of these will form a pipeline. It has a predisposition towards funds specialising in northern Europe, which has the most developed private equity markets. If a fund is deemed worthy of more detailed due diligence, the team will spend around three months on this for a potential primary fund investment, and from one to two months for secondaries and direct investments.

PPET looks for “operational alpha”

The most important differentiator that PPET is looking for from a fund is “operational alpha” – the added value generated by the LP managers in their underlying portfolio companies. It partners with firms that are very active in improving the businesses they invest in, rather than simply being passive financial investors. Most of their favoured managers have considerable in-house industrial expertise that they can make available to portfolio companies.

Beyond that, PPET’s manager assesses factors such as whether a fund has a unique strategy or unique resources for originating deals, as well as the strength and depth of their investment team. Managers who focus on sectors where they have proven expertise are preferred, and any sign of drift in strategy will trigger a review of the investment. PPET’s manager does not like concentration of risk within a fund portfolio.

PPET looks for motivated and stable underlying managers

PPET wants to invest in funds run by motivated, stable teams, so it looks at issues such as team growth, development, and succession planning. This means that PPET’s manager will typically avoid firms with an “investment bank” model, where there is usually a higher turnover of personnel.

PPET’s manager looks at a broad range of fund managers and fund sizes but is focused on funds investing in companies with enterprise values of between €100m and €1bn.

Looking at past performance, a fund with a high ratio of loss-making investments is not a good sign. PPET’s team comments, however, that it is unrealistic to expect zero losses – like all investment strategies, private equity investing is a trade-off between risk and reward. It prefers managers who have learned from their mistakes.

Long-term bias towards Europe

We note that although PPET is not a “pure play” European private equity strategy, it has a strong focus on European companies, as this is where the managers believe the greatest opportunities lie over the long term. Despite the comparability of Europe’s economy to the rest of the developed world, the PPET team believes that Europe’s private equity market, due to its heterogenous nature (e.g. different languages, cultures, legislation, etc), is less straightforward to transact in. This provides barriers to entry and better protection to incumbent private equity firms that have “boots on the ground”, which face less competition from other firms operating a “fly in” model. The advantage of this is that private equity firms within the European mid-market often face less competition and are able to acquire companies at more modest entry prices. Furthermore, Europe is the “birthplace” of ESG and so European private equity firms are generally leading the way in the industry in this area.

Fees on the underlying funds

PPET focuses on potential returns, net of fees

PPET spends significant time analysing fund structures and ensuring that they are acceptable. This includes ensuring that fees are in line with market norms for the relevant region, while incentivising the underlying managers appropriately, and confirming that the underlying managers’ interests are aligned with those of investors. However, when weighing up one potential investment against another, it will opt for the one that offers the best risk-adjusted net return (after fees). This might not necessarily be the one with the lowest headline fees.

PPET does not levy a performance fee at the fund level, on top of fees paid out to the underlying managers. More details on PPET’s fee structure can be found on page 26.

Managing commitment levels

PPET’s policy is to carefully manage over-commitments to minimise cash drag

Patria manages PPET’s portfolio to ensure that it has a spread of maturities. It uses a detailed cash flow model to forecast the timing of potential drawdowns and distributions.

We discuss the fund’s borrowing facilities on page 27. The manager does not hedge currency in the portfolio, as it considers that the cost of doing this would likely outweigh the potential benefit. Uninvested cash is held in euros, sterling, or US dollars, in line with the trust’s underlying exposure.

Total outstanding commitments were £658.1m at the end of December 2024

PPET has followed an over-commitment strategy since inception 2001. As at 31 December 2024, its total outstanding commitments amounted to £658.1m, though the team believes that roughly £80.8m of these are unlikely to be drawn.

Portfolio construction

PPET targets returns of 1.7x cost/15% IRR on primary transactions as a minimum

All of this activity boils down to six to eight new primary fund commitments of around €30-35m each year. The target net return on these investments is a minimum of 1.7x cost over the life of the investment, and a 15% IRR (Internal Rate of Return), although most fund investments in recent times have materially outperformed this.

Figure 5: PPET’s investment cycle

Source: Patria

Secondaries and direct investments

The second element of the investment focus is on secondary transactions. Whilst this was once an area of increasing importance, it has seen its weighting within PPET’s portfolio fall in the last two years. Instead, as is evidenced in Figure 6 on page 13, the team is placing greater importance on the third component of the portfolio, direct investments, where the PPET team invests directly into companies alongside underlying private equity firms, rather than through their LP funds.

The use of direct investments and secondary transactions has several benefits. The PPET team is afforded greater control over the pace of capital deployment, including the ability to invest at a later stage when the success or otherwise of the firm’s approach to the investment is more evident. PPET also has greater capacity to target specific sectors and subsectors that it believes have attractive characteristics, as well as specific deals from amongst the best opportunities present within a firm’s portfolio. By investing directly, PPET can reduce its look-through ongoing charges ratio (the total expense ratio when considering indirect fund costs), as these types of transactions do not typically come with management fees, or at the very least have lower fees than LP funds.

The manager monitors the portfolio closely. Members of PPET’s team often sit on advisory boards of funds (not interfering in day-to-day decision-making, but providing strategic oversight and other ad-hoc advice) and they have quarterly meetings with the underlying managers.

PPET will typically hold funds to maturity unless there is a compelling secondary market opportunity

PPET’s manager says that it is given a high level of transparency on the underlying portfolio. Unfortunately, it cannot share all of this information with shareholders at an individual portfolio company level, but it can publish useful aggregate information such as earnings growth and debt levels within the portfolio. PPET usually holds funds to maturity (retains investments until the end of the fund’s lifecycle), but will occasionally sell funds in the secondary market if it believes the returns on these funds will not meet its minimum target future returns, or if it believes maximum value has been achieved.

Asset allocation

PPET is increasingly allocating toward direct investments, which should reduce its underlying fees

As of 30 September 2024, 69% of the fund’s NAV was attributable to 15 core European private equity firms, which make up the “primaries” component of the portfolio. The core manager line-up has grown by two since our last note, published in April 2024, with information on the new manager detailed on page 5.

Direct investments continue to play an increasingly significant role, with their weighting rising since our previous note. Currently standing at 26%, direct investments still have some margin left before they reach PPET team’s new top end exposure of 35%. The team has also observed that the weighting of direct investments has continued to increase since the most recent data release (as per Figure 6). We note that PPET has proposed changing its maximum direct investment weighting from 25% to an expected weighting of 20-35%.

PPET’s increased exposure to direct investments reflects good performance as well as portfolio changes, including the sale of fund-commitments made in October 2024 (see page 23 for more details). Some of the proceeds are used to reduce drawings on PPET’s RCF.

Figure 6: PPET’s evolving portfolio

Source: Patria

Well-diversified by vintage sector and geography

As at 30 September 2024, PPET provided exposure to over 600 underlying private companies, through around 80 funds. Out of these funds, the top 10 funds account for 26.9% of NAV, while the direct investments portfolio had 32 investments and accounted for 26% of NAV.

As is illustrated in Figure 7, the portfolio remains well-diversified by vintage (the year an investment was made). 40% of the underlying portfolio is over four years old, with around a quarter in excess of five years old (this being the sweet spot for realisations). It should be noted that the data in Figure 8 is at 30 September 2024 and since then PPET has disposed of a portfolio of mature investments, accounting for 13% of its NAV (see page 22), reducing the overall maturity of the portfolio.

PPET has a broadly similar country and sector allocation to when we last published. Whilst it remains well diversified across region and sector, it still shows a strong preference for northern Europe, as well as a preference for less-cyclical businesses such as those in healthcare, technology, consumer stables, and high-end industrials (such as business-to-business services and industrial tech).

A robust portfolio

PPET’s portfolio continues to exhibit the same high-quality balance sheet metrics highlighted in our previous notes, with the latest figures detailed in Figure 11. Although EBITDA and revenue growth have declined over the past 12 months (our previous note used data as of 30 September 2023), this reflects the previous slowdown in the European private equity market (as shown on page 5). Nevertheless, both metrics remain at a level the PPET team considers “strong” by market standards.

Figure 11: PPET portfolio over the 12 months to 30 September 2024

Valuations have shifted since we last published, with the average valuations of the top 10 and top 30 companies increasing by 2.2x and 2.0x respectively, while the valuation of the top 50 fell by 0.5x. The increase in valuations of PPET’s largest companies may in part reflect the expected recovery in European private equity activity, with increased investor activity leading to higher bid prices for companies. It may also reflect PPET’s increased weight to its largest positions – a consequence of their increasing direct investments – as higher-quality companies can command a higher multiple (more valuable businesses are often priced at higher valuation ratios).

PPET’s portfolio has also experienced a reduction in overall leverage, with the average debt level of its top 50 holdings decreasing by 0.5x since our last note. The debt profile of PPET’s portfolio also remains well-positioned, with the manager commenting that the vast majority of debt maturities are due in 2027 or later, and most debt packages being covenant lite or loose.

Commitment levels

Outstanding commitments remain at the low end of PPET’s target range

As is illustrated in Figure 12, as of 31 December 2024, PPET had total outstanding commitments of £658.1m, including an estimated £80.8m unlikely to be drawn. This equates to an over-commitment ratio of 28.1% (this being the value of PPET’s outstanding commitments that were in excess of its liquid assets, as a percentage of net assets). This figure is down significantly from our last note, which used February 2024 data, as well as being below the long-term average and the bottom-end of its target range of 30% to 65%, giving the team more than enough flexibility to make new commitments.

Figure 12: PPET outstanding commitments

During the 12 months to 30 September 2024, PPET had drawdowns and investments totalling £163.7m (2023: £193.2m). We describe examples of these new investments on pages 28 to 23.

Distributions have once again exceeded drawdowns

PPET received £292.3m in distributions from its funds and secondary sales during the year (2023: £202.9m). This marks a significant shift since our last publication, as the previous year was the first time since 2010 that fund drawdowns exceeded distributions – a reflection of the challenges faced by the market in 2023. However, this reversal has validated the team’s earlier comments, as they anticipated this would be a short-term trend. The recent uptick in private equity activity has allowed distributions to outpace drawdowns once again.

Secondary sales generated £143.7m during the same period. Furthermore, while fund distributions returned £148.6m, outpacing fund drawdowns of £118.5m. The team believes that, as exit activity in the private equity market continues to recover, this positive trend will persist.

Top 10 fund exposures

Short-term changes to fund allocations tend to be driven by realisations, the pace of reinvestment, and the frequency of revaluation by the underlying managers. Reflecting the managers’ long-term fund-of-funds approach, the names of the underlying managers and their funds will be familiar to followers of the trust and regular readers of our notes on PPET.

There have been several new entrants to the top 10 since we last wrote: Altor Fund V, Triton Fund V, Caption VI, HgCapital 8. These replaced IK Fund VIII, Advent International Global Private Equity IX and VIII, Bridgepoint Europe VI.

Figure 15: 10 largest private equity funds, as at 30 September 2024

Source: Patria. Notes: 1) Net multiple calculated by PPET’s manager in sterling on the basis of the total realised and unrealised return for the interest held. These figures have not been reviewed or approved by the relevant fund or its manager. 2) The arithmetic average net multiple from the top 10.

We note that HgCapital 8 is not a new investment and has historically been part of PPET’s top 10 holdings, while IK partners’ investments have been regular members of PPET’s portfolio, with one example being PPET’s investment Mademoiselle Desserts described on page 24.

There have three other noteworthy additions to PPET’s fund portfolio – investments into Bowmark Capital Partners VII, Arbor Investment VI, and Investindustrial Fund VIII.

PPET’s top 10 fund exposure continues to decline as a percentage of total assets, currently 28.4%. As noted above, there has been an increased allocation to direct investments, which has reduced the relative weighting of funds.

Altor

Whilst the Altor Fund V is a new entrant to the top 10, Altor itself is not a new manager for PPET. The team first invested in an Altor strategy in 2003, making it one of PPET’s longest-standing partners. Altor focuses on leveraged buyout (acquiring companies using significant amounts of borrowed money) and growth capital investments in the Nordic and DACH mid-market. The PPET team highlights Altor’s partnership approach, credibility, and strong track record as some of its most attractive features.

Altor’s portfolio of 53 companies spans five sectors: business services, consumer, financial services, industrial, and technology. Examples include Marshall Group, the renowned audio manufacturing and design firm famous for its speakers; Carnegie Investment Bank, a leading Nordic independent bank; and Raw Fury, a Swedish video game developer.

Altor’s success is evident not only in the returns of its funds, but also in the strong demand for its strategies. Altor’s recent 2024 fundraising for its Fund VI reached its €3bn cap, marking the largest fundraise in the firm’s history.

A key differentiator for Altor is its ESG credentials. The PPET team highlights Altor’s market-leading capabilities in ESG and sustainability, underpinned by investments related to the “green transition”. For example, Fund VI has been classified as an Article 8 fund (investment fund that promotes environmental or social characteristics under SFDR regulations), indicating its commitment to investing in companies that promote environmental or social characteristics.

Bowmark Capital

Bowmark Capital Partners VII is a new addition to PPET’s portfolio and marks the first time a Bowmark fund has been a constituent. Although new to PPET, the Patria team has been familiar with Bowmark, having invested in its funds for other strategies since 2004. Bowmark Capital Partners VII, its latest fundraising, exceeded its £800m target, closing at £907m, with PPET committing £25m.

Bowmark is a well-regarded name in the UK private equity market, known for its focus on high-quality, market-leading businesses. It targets UK mid-market opportunities, typically with valuations of up to £300m, and focuses on companies with potential for transformational growth driven by structural trends rather than cyclical factors.

Bowmark’s portfolio primarily consists of technology companies, with its business models categorised into data and insight, managed IT services, software, and tech-enabled business services. Current investments include Xperience, a digital transformation solutions provider; Turnkey, a corporate insolvency management software developer; and Lendscape, a technology provider for global commercial finance.

Arbor Investments

Arbor Investments is a US-based private equity firm headquartered in Chicago, boasting a 25-year track record across approximately 90 investments. Arbor’s portfolio focuses on the mid-market US food industry, encompassing 11 diverse companies. These range from conventional food and beverage firms to ancillary service providers, such as packaging and cookware companies. Notable investments include pet food businesses, craft breweries, and freeze-drying services.

Arbor’s most recent fund, Arbor Investment VI, launched in April 2024, with PPET contributing £15m. The firm is seeking to raise $1.5bn for this fund, matching the amount raised for its previous fund, Arbor Investment V.

Triton

Triton focuses on investing in mid-market businesses throughout Europe, with sector specialisms in industrials, business services, consumer, and healthcare. Their ethos is to invest in quality companies that are hindered by excess debt or the lack of a solid business plan. They maximise the long-term potential of their portfolio companies by focusing on operational improvements – leveraging their network of industrial, strategic, and operational experts. The manager will typically look to accelerate business expansion, maximise productivity and strengthen positions within existing markets.

PPET committed £16.7m to Triton Fund VI fund, which focuses lower mid-market businesses in Northern Europe across industrial technology, business services and healthcare, with the typical company size being from €300m to €1bn.

Investindustrial

Investindustrial was born out of the industrial business of the Bonomi family and today is one of Europe’s major private equity investors. Investindustrial covers both mid-market and growth strategies, with a preference for the industrial sector; though it also invests in healthcare and services, consumer, and technology sectors (also common allocations within PPET’s own portfolio). Examples of their investee companies include Eataly, the high-end Italian food hall, which operates 25 locations across the world.

PPET has committed £16.6m to Investindustrial Fund VIII, which will target niches within the industrials, consumer, and healthcare services sectors, primarily in southern Europe. Fund VIII remains open and had raised a total of €3.75bn so far, with 102 investors having already committed capital as at 1 July 2024. The fundraising is already oversubscribed, having exceeded the initial €3bn target, and a significant increase on the €2bn raised by its predecessor fund.

Top 10 underlying company exposures

Although changes to the top 10 underlying companies were once more common, the increased use of direct investments has reduced the turnover of names. As shown in Figure 16, there have been only two new additions to the list: Wundex, which replaced Funecap, and Visma which replaced Trioworld. This change was driven by the relative performance of the assets.

The largest underlying holdings remain dominated by direct investments

Beyond the surge in growth of Wundex and Visma, the rankings of PPET’s other holdings remain largely unchanged, with Action, the European discount retailer, retaining its position as the largest holding. It is worth noting that Action previously accounted for a much higher proportion of the portfolio, approaching 6% of NAV. However, the PPET team took advantage of a liquidity event in 2023 to reduce its holding in Action as part of prudent portfolio management.

The proceeds from this reduction were used partly to finance new investments and partly to support PPET’s share repurchase programme.

Figure 16: 10 largest underlying holdings, as at 30 September 2024

Wundex

Wundex is a German medical company specialising in home-based care for patients with complex or chronic wounds. The company’s medical staff provide home care services that enable faster and more effective wound treatment while reducing the burden on conventional healthcare providers. In addition to its treatment services, Wundex offers a range of home care products and decubitus systems (for treating pressure sores), providing a comprehensive suite of solutions for patients with chronic wounds.

Wundex’s majority investor is Capiton, a German private equity firm. PPET invested €10m alongside Capiton in March 2021. A key part of Capiton’s strategy for Wundex is to drive expansion through acquisitions, illustrated by Wundex’s purchase of ELLIPSA, a wound care specialist based in Bavaria.

Wundex’s growth has been driven both by the innovative nature of its product suite and by strong sectoral tailwinds (favourable market trends). With demographic shifts placing increasing pressure on healthcare infrastructure, the ability to treat patients at home – freeing up vital hospital resources – offers a clear and significant advantage. Wundex’s performance has allowed it to pay its first dividend of c.€3m to PPET.

Visma

Visma is a provider of cloud-based, mission-critical business software, headquartered in Norway, and is one of Europe’s largest privately-owned software businesses. PPET invested in Visma alongside Hg, a leading technology-focused private equity firm, whose funds PPET also holds investments in. Visma’s software automates a wide range of business operations, such as accounting, HR, and payroll. Since Hg’s initial investment in 2006, Visma has delivered continual revenue growth, averaging c. 17% year-on-year. This growth has come hand in hand with improving profitability, with its operating profit margin growing to 12.2%, and its cash conversion nearing 100% (the portion of net profits that becomes operating cash flow).

Visma has growth more than 20-fold under Hg’s ownership and is now valued in excess of €20bn (as of its December 2023 funding round). A major factor behind its more recent growth has been its focus on standardised software-as-a-service products (subscription-based software delivery) to the private and public sectors, divesting from its non-core business in 2022. In its most recent annual results, for its 2023 financial year, Visma reported revenues of €2.4m, growing 16% over the year. These figures were the result of both organic and inorganic growth, with Visma acquiring 32 companies over the period, allowing it to grow its customer base by 20%, to 1.7m customers.

New direct investments

PPET made nine new direct investments over 2024. Seven of these were investments in new companies: European Digital Group, Chanelle Pharma, Clean Biologics, Nutripure, Sytra, Goodlife, Agora Makers, and a seventh undisclosed company. PPET also made follow-on investments into Docplanner, a digital tool for patients to communicate with local doctors, and Boost.ai, a global leader in conversational AI for Fortune 1000 companies.

European Digital Group

European Digital Group is a French digital transformation specialist founded in 2019, that helps firms implement new technological solutions. The group operates in five key areas: data and AI; technology and cybersecurity; performance marketing; digital content; and growth enablers.

The company describes itself as “the first multi-dimensional and multi-specialist digital acceleration group”. It provides a comprehensive suite of services that spans different stages of digital integration and various specialisms, from physical infrastructure to intangible services such as marketing.

Rather than being acquired, the company was founded by Montefiore Investment (a French private equity firm previously partnered with PPET) alongside a serial entrepreneur. Montefiore has expanded the company both organically and inorganically, completing nearly two dozen acquisitions over the past five years, including its recent acquisition of Garaje de Ideas, a Spanish digital agency.

The Patria team describes European Digital Group as delivering “impressive growth since inception, materially outperforming the market”, with acquired businesses growing significantly above historical rates due to the benefits of being part of the group.

Chanelle Pharma

Chanelle Pharma is Ireland’s largest manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals for both human and veterinary use. In February 2024, the company was acquired by UK private equity firm Exponent, with Patria investing alongside them. Chanelle was purchased for an estimated €300m, with PPET contributing €5m.

Although Chanelle produces a wide range of products for human medical services, including research and production, it is recognised as being a global leader in veterinary pharmaceuticals. Its portfolio of treatments for domestic pets is especially strong, and commands significant market leadership.

Clean Biologics

Headquartered in France, Clean Biologics is a contract testing development and manufacturing organisation (CDTMO) with a strong presence in North America. The company provides industry-compliant services to pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies, focusing on the safety and production of biopharmaceuticals for clinical trials.

Clean Biologics was formed by Archimed, a French private equity firm, following its acquisition of Clean Cells in 2018. Subsequent acquisitions of Biodextris and Naobios expanded its capabilities in quality control testing and CDTMO services.

In early 2025, Archimed created a special continuation vehicle (a dedicated investment structure used to extend ownership of a company while attracting new investors) for Clean Biologics to enhance its valuation, with PPET investing €10.4m in the new fund. This carve-out (a business separation creating distinct entities) separated Clean Biologics into two distinct businesses, one focused on drug quality control testing and one focused on CDTMO services. The PPET team expects structural tailwinds in these markets, such as increased spending on clinical trials, R&D, and heightened regulatory scrutiny, to drive a potential 13% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate – a measure of consistent annual growth).

Nutripure

Nutripure, headquartered in France, is a holistic sports and wellness platform that helps consumers improve their health. The company offers a portfolio of 40 high-quality products across health & metabolism, sports & endurance, physical recovery, and healthy nutrition.

In July 2024, PAI Partners, a Paris-based private equity firm, acquired a majority stake in Nutripure through an undisclosed investment, with PPET committing €10m alongside PAI. PAI was attracted to Nutripure’s “exceptional growth and innovation in the sports nutrition and wellness space” and believes that structural trends, such as a growing focus on healthier lifestyles and wellbeing, will support the company’s continued growth. PPET chose to invest for similar reasons, backing PAI’s judgement given their strong consumer sector track record.

Systra

Systra is a global consulting and transportation engineering company headquartered in Paris. It operates with over 10,000 employees across 80 countries, working in the urban transport, rail, and bus sectors, as well as in civil engineering. Examples of its recent milestones include the ongoing design and construction of the Hanoi Metro in Vietnam and the inauguration of the first maritime railway bridge in the United Arab Emirates.

Systra was acquired by Latour Capital in October 2024, with Patria investing alongside. Prior to its acquisition, Systra had surpassed the €1 billion revenue mark (as per its 2023 annual results) with a 5% operating profit margin. According to statements from Systra’s management and Latour, the takeover is expected to provide Systra with access to new capital, enabling it to expand its market share in “high-potential regions”. It will also facilitate a smooth management transition following the departure of Pierre Verzat, Systra’s CEO of 28 years.

Goodlife

Goodlife is a frozen food manufacturer operating under nine distinct food brands. Headquartered in the Netherlands, it runs six factories across Western Europe. In July 2023, Goodlife was acquired by IK Partners, with Patria investing alongside, taking over from its previous private equity owners, Egeria Capital Management (which remains partially invested in the company).

IK Partners highlighted three key factors that attracted them to Goodlife: its broad portfolio of products, ranging from Mexican snacks to traditional Dutch foods; its large addressable market (it is particularly strong in the UK and the DACH countries); and its diversified and loyal customer base, with Goodlife securing partnerships with major retailers such as Lidl.

Agora Makers

Agora Makers is a designer and manufacturer of public street lighting and street furniture, based in France. It operates through nine brands and offers a diverse range of products, from recreating traditional designs to producing smart lighting and public-use gym equipment. Agora’s products can be found in over 4,000 cities worldwide.

PPET initiated its position in Agora in December 2024, investing in a continuation fund (a fund created to extend the investment period of a specific asset) as part of a transaction co-led by Patria. Patria made its investment alongside Hivest Capital Partners, Agora’s previous majority shareholder, which sold part of its stake while establishing a single-asset continuation fund.

Whilst Patria has maintained a longstanding relationship with Hivest Capital, this marks the first time that PPET has invested alongside them. Hivest has already demonstrated successful value creation since acquiring Agora in 2022, increasing its EBITDA by 250% through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. By retaining a stake in Agora, Hivest ensures continuity in the initiatives it has implemented with Agora’s management.

Disposals

There are two noteworthy secondary disposals made by PPET over the last 12 month. The largest of the two was a £180m divestment of a portfolio of 14 funds, announced on 23 October 2024. This disposal represented 13% of PPET’s NAV, based on its 31 August 2024 valuation, the most recent valuation prior to the sale.

The sale reflected what the PPET team believed was an attractive opportunity to participate in Patria’s broader sell-down of select fund investments. All the funds sold by PPET were either from older vintages or no longer aligned with PPET’s strategy, specifically those not focused on European mid-market buyouts. The total sale value represented 95% of PPET’s reported book valuation (the previously recorded value of the assets) – a level that the managers were more than satisfied to accept, though with half of the proceeds to be received in September 2025.

The disposal also realigned PPET’s portfolio with its desired investment style, reducing its holdings in larger, more mature strategies, and increasing the relative weight of mid-market funds and direct investments. The proceeds will be used to reduce drawings on the trust’s revolving credit facility, strengthening the balance sheet. Any remaining capital will support additional funding for new transactions.

Mademoiselle Desserts

The sale of Mademoiselle Desserts was a landmark moment for PPET, as it represents the first sale of a direct investment. As inferred by the name, Mademoiselle Desserts is a one of Europe’s major desserts manufacturers, producing over 150 products, though with a clear focus on baked goods.

The sale of Mademoiselle Desserts was announced in July 2024 (and completed in October 2024), with its then-majority owner, the private equity group IK Partners, selling it to the Swiss dairy supplier Emmi Group for €900m. Patria received £11.4m in proceeds from the sale.

Performance

PPET has almost doubled over the last five years and almost tripled over the last 10.

As per PPET’s most recent announcement, it reported NAV per share of 782.2p and total NAV of £1.2bn, as of 31 December 2024. This is up 2.4% on a per-share basis from our last note, which reported a NAV per share of 764.8p, as of 29 February 2024.

We note that PPET’s NAV returns would have been even higher were it not for the depreciation of the euro against sterling, which has declined by 2.3% since February. Fortunately, PPET’s underlying portfolio continues to report robust NAV growth, generating returns of 8.8% (in local currency terms).

Relative to listed European small caps, its NAV and share price returns show different correlations to listed equity. Over the past 12 months to 31 January 2025, PPET’s NAV has remained relatively flat compared to the 9.4% growth of the MSCI Europe Small Cap Index. However, PPET’s share price has risen significantly, increasing by 13.9% over the same period, having capitalised on the rebound in listed European equities, whereas PPET’s NAV returns – which were not impacted by the 2022 selloff in listed equities and thus had no low point to rebound from – did not.

PPET’s share price has also been supported by proactive measures from its board, including the implementation of a share buyback programme in January 2024, aimed at narrowing the discount, which can be seen in Figure 22 on page 29.

Figure 17: Cumulative total return performance over periods ending 31 January 2025¹

As can be seen in Figure 18, PPET’s five- and 10-year NAV performance continues to be well ahead of the LPX Europe, MSCI Europe and the MSCI Europe Small Cap indices (the LPX Europe is an index of listed private equity companies in Europe and its returns reflect the share price returns of those companies, rather than returns based on their NAVs).

PPET NAV relative to the MSCI Europe Small Cap and LPX Europe indices,
five-year period to period to 31 January 2025

Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co

PPET’s NAV total returns have also remained above the average performance of its broader peer group over one, three, and five years, as per Figure 19, reflecting the success of its highly diversified approach to private equity investing. We cover the peer group performance on page 21.

Peer group

PPET is a member of the AIC’s private equity sector, which comprises some 19 members. Members will typically have over 80% of their assets invested in private equity/unquoted shares; and an investment objective/policy to invest in private equity or unquoted shares. For the purpose of this analysis, we have narrowed down the wider peer group to 10 funds illustrated in Figure 19. 3i Group is among those excluded, as it considers itself to be an asset manager and has investment interests extending beyond private equity. We have also excluded Dunedin Enterprise, EPE Special Opportunities, JPEL Private Equity, LMS Capital, and Seed Innovations Limited on size grounds, as all have market caps below £100m, making them less-relevant comparators. In addition, Dunedin Enterprise, JPEL Private Equity and Symphony International Holdings have all been excluded as they are all in wind-down mode (funds gradually selling assets to return capital to investors), which reduces their usefulness as comparators.

Given the inherently longer-term nature of private equity investing, PPET’s relative performance is best examined over at least five years

We remind readers that PPET’s and its peers’ strategies are inherently longer-term, with the manager’s unlisted vehicles typically having multi-year lockup periods (investors must keep capital committed for a set period). This, along with PPET’s indefinite life structure, means that the longer-term periods (five- and 10-year) tend to provide the best basis for a comparison of NAV returns. PPET’s performance sits within the top half pack for the one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.

Figure 19: AIC private equity sector comparison table, as at 11 February 2025

Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co. Notes: 1) Performance figures are as at 31 January 2025. 2) Market cap, dividend yield and the period returns are all ranked in increasing size order (the larger the market cap, dividend yield or return, the higher the ranking). All other rankings are in decreasing size order (the lower the ongoing charges ratio and the lower the value of the premium/(discount), correspond to a higher ranking).

As of 11 February 2025, PPET’s discount was 27.1% (based on Morningstar’s NAV estimate), slightly wider than its peer group average. PPET’s discount and ranking are similar levels to those when we last published.

The sector is split between trusts that pay dividends and those that do not. Among the dividend payers, PPET’s yield is middle-of-the-pack, ranking fourth out of seven.

Thanks to changes to cost disclosure changes, PPET’s OCR is now the lowest of its peers

Following the change in its disclosure methodology (detailed on 28) PPET’s ongoing charges ratio of 1.06% is the narrowest reported in the sector. This can be explained by its competitive management fee of 0.95%, which does not include a performance fee at the fund level (although these will be incurred by the underlying funds in which it invests) – something that Patria comments is uncommon for the private equity industry. This change has only come about with the release of its annual results at the end of February, and as such may not yet be reflected in PPET’s relative discount.

Dividend

Dividend of 4.2p per quarter represents a 5% increase in the quarterly dividend rate year-on-year

PPET paid a total dividend of 16.8p per share for the year to 30 September 2024, which represented a 5.0% increase on the previous financial year (2020: 16.0p per share). This dividend consisted of four quarterly payments of 4.2p per share. As of 11 February 2024, PPET had a dividend yield of 3.0%.

Figure 20: PPET’s dividend history over financial years ending 30 September

Source: Patria. Note: the dividend was re-based in 2017 after a period of strong distributions. Note that in 2017 PPET begun its enhanced dividend policy.

Historically, PPET’s has aimed to retain the real, inflation-adjusted, value of the total annual distribution

For a given financial year, the first interim dividend is paid in April, with the second and third payments made in July and October. The fourth payment remains a final dividend and is paid in January following shareholder approval at the AGM. Ex-dividend dates and record dates occur the month prior to payment. The fund has historically aimed to retain the real, inflation-adjusted, value of the total annual distribution.

Over the longer term, the manager anticipates that approximately 50% of the dividend will be covered by current-year revenue, though the level of coverage may vary from year to year. The remaining portion will be paid from capital.

It is worth noting that PPET has a relatively mature portfolio, which generates comparatively high levels of cash. During its 2023 financial year, PPET’s revenue covered approximately a quarter of its dividend payout.

Premium/(discount)

PPET’s discount has come in line with its peer group average.

PPET’s discount narrowed at the start of 2024, coinciding with the announcement of its share buyback programme on 25 January 2024. The buyback was funded by proceeds from the reduction of PPET’s investment in Action. PPET retains the authority to repurchase up to 14.99% of its issued share capital, which is renewed annually.

Since the initial narrowing, PPET’s discount has remained largely in line with both its long-term average and peer group’s average discount, as shown in Figure 21.

Whilst it is encouraging that PPET no longer trades at a significant discount relative to its peers, its nominal discount remains frustratingly large – a sentiment shared by PPET’s manager. It has previously noted that PPET’s discount often appears wider than comparable valuations observed within the private equity market itself.

Figure 21: PPET premium/(discount) over five years

Source: Morningstar, Marten & Co *Note: the peer group comprises members of the AIC’s private equity sector, with a number of exceptions. 3i Group has been excluded as it considers itself to be an asset manager and has investment interests extending beyond private equity. We have also excluded Dunedin Enterprise, EPE Special Opportunities, JPEL Private Equity, LMS Capital, Reconstruction Capital II and Seed Innovations Limited on size grounds (all have market caps below £100m).

Figure 22: PPET shares repurchased by quarter

Source: Patria, Marten & Co

PPET has successfully implement a share buyback program

As of 11 February 2025, PPET was trading at a 27.1% discount. Over the 12 months to the end of January 2025, PPET’s average discount was 29.5%, with a low of 32.9% and a high of 23.3%. PPET’s discount remains broadly in-line with the entire listed private equity sector peer group average, which stood at 30.1% as of 31 January 2025.

Fees and costs

PPET’s investment management agreement does not include a performance fee

Under the terms of its investment management agreement with Patria, PPET pays a base management fee of 0.95% per annum of its total net assets. The investment management agreement does not include a performance-fee element and is terminable on 12 months’ notice from either side.

The total investment management fee for the year ended 30 September 2024 was £11.4m (2022: £11.2m), and the ongoing charges ratio (OCR) was 1.06%, in line with the previous year. PPET has changed its approach to cost disclosure, and now no longer accounts for the costs of its underlying funds within its OCR, reducing it from the 2.84% OCR it historically reported. Another result of the changes to cost disclosure rules is that PPET has not been able to be included on platforms which previously prevented investment into PPET, such as Fidelity. The investment management fee is allocated based on a 90:10 capital/revenue split.

GPMS Corporate Secretary Limited, a subsidiary of Patria, provides company secretarial services to PPET, while IQ EQ Administration Services (UK) Ltd provides administrative services. The fees for both are adjusted annually in line with the retail price index (RPI – a measure of inflation). The secretarial agreement and administrative agreement can be terminated by either side on six months’ and three months’ notice, respectively.

Capital structure and life

Simple capital structure with one class of ordinary shares

PPET has a simple capital structure with one class of ordinary share in issue. Its ordinary shares have a premium main market listing on the London Stock Exchange and, as of 31 January 2024, there were 151,566,166 shares in issue with 2,180,128 held in treasury.

One shareholder, Phoenix Group Holdings, owns over 50% of PPET’s shares. However, under an agreement between it and the trust, it has agreed not to seek to exercise its vote nor take actions that would prevent PPET from carrying on an independent business, effectively protecting the interests of minority shareholders.

Unlimited life

Arguably reflecting the longer-term nature of its underlying investments, PPET has been established with an indefinite life and there is no specific mechanism, such as a regular continuation vote, to wind up the company.

Major shareholders

Figure 23: Major shareholders as at 31 January 2025

Source: Bloomberg, Marten & Co

Gearing

The loan facility has been increased to £300m

PPET operates with multicurrency syndicated revolving credit facility worth up to £400m, expiring in December 2025. The interest rate on the facility is calculated as the defined reference rate of the currency drawn plus 1.625% rising to 2.0% depending on utilisation (a fee paid on unused credit), and the commitment fee payable on non-utilisation is 0.7% per annum.

PPET has plenty of credit available to fund future investments

The facility is provided by RBS International, Société Générale, State Street Bank International. PPET’s articles of association permit it to borrow up to 100% of net assets, although the board has said that it does not expect bank borrowings to exceed 30% of net assets.

PPET had £209.9m remaining undrawn on its £300m revolving credit facility as at 31 December 2024, along with £16.6m in cash. We expect this level of borrowing to fall substantially in the future, following PPETs recent transactions, as the capital has been earmarked to repay PPET’s revolving credit facility. As of 30 September 2024, PPET had a net gearing level of 11.8%.

PPET’s board has agreed that the over-commitment ratio (outstanding commitments less resources available for investment and available debt facility/NAV) should sit within the range of 30% to 75% over the long term. PPET had an over-commitment ratio of 28.1% as of 31 December 2024, which is below the target range of 30% to 75%.

Financial calendar

PPET’s financial year-end is 30 September. The most recent annual results were released in January, while interim results are typically released in June. The most recent AGM was held on 27 March 2024. As discussed on page 26, PPET usually pays dividends in January, April, July, and October of each year.

Management

The lead manager, Alan Gauld, is a senior investment director in the private equity team at Patria. Alan is supported by Patrick Knechtli (head of secondary investments), Mark Nicolson (head of primary investments), Simon Tyszko (portfolio director), and Ramone Moody (investment manager). Backup is provided by the rest of Patria’s private equity team (which has 26 private equity investment professionals as of 30 June 2024).

Alan has a strong network and extensive experience with leading private equity funds, particularly pan-European and French, Nordic, and Iberian GPs. He is involved in sourcing, appraising, and executing investments as well as portfolio monitoring. Alan is a qualified chartered accountant and holds a BSc (Hons) in Genetics from the University of Edinburgh.

Board

PPET’s board comprises five directors, all of which are non-executive and considered to be independent of the investment manager (details of their individual experience are provided below).

Figure 24: Board member – length of service and shareholdings

Alan Devine, PPET’s chair, is the longest-serving director, having provided 10.7 years of service. He has held the position of chair since March 2022, when the previous chair retired. Calum Thomson is both audit committee chair and the senior independent director, having held these positions since November 2017 and March 2022 respectively. The average length of service is 6.5 years, and all directors stand for re-election annually.

At PPET’s last AGM in March 2024, shareholders approved an increase in the limit for the aggregate fees paid to directors from £350,000 to £450,000. The increase was to allow the headroom for future succession planning.

Alan Devine (chair)

Alan has over 40 years of experience in both commercial and investment banking, having spent his entire career working for The Royal Bank of Scotland Group. He was appointed as senior independent director on 1 January 2019. Alan held a variety of senior roles and was CEO of RBS Shipping Group. He holds an MBA, is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers in Scotland and is a non-executive director of Capital Flow Holdings DAC. Alan is also chair of the private equity-owned Irish-based cash logistics company known as GSLS.

Calum Thomson (senior independent director and chair of the audit committee)

Calum is a qualified accountant with over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. He was with Deloitte LLP since October 1988, and for 21 of those years prior to his retirement, he was a senior audit partner in the firm. Calum is a non-executive director and the audit committee chair of the Diverse Income Trust, the AVI Global Trust Plc and Baring Emerging EMEA Opportunities Plc. He is also a non-executive director and audit committee chair of BLME Holdings Limited and Bank of London and The Middle East Plc.

Dugald Agble (independent director)

Dugald was appointed on 1 September 2021. He holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London and has over 20 years’ direct investment experience in private equity. He started his career at Nomura Principal Finance Group, which later evolved into Terra Firma Capital Partners. More recently, Dugald has been involved in investing in emerging and frontier markets at Helios Investment Partners and 8 Miles. He is a supervisory board member at FMO, the Dutch finance institution.

Diane Seymour-Williams (independent director)

Diane worked for Deutsche Asset Management Group (previously Morgan Grenfell) for 23 years from 1981 until 2005, during which time she held various senior positions, including CIO of Asian Equities, CEO of the Asian asset management business, head of European client relationships and head of global equity product. Diane then spent nine years from 2007-16 at LGM Investments, a specialist global emerging markets manager, where she was global head of relationship management. She is a non-executive director of Baillie Gifford China Growth Trust Plc and Brooks Macdonald Group Plc, where she has also chaired the remuneration committee since 2012. Diane is also a pro-bono member of the investment committees of Newnham College, Cambridge and the Canal & River Trust.

Yvonne Stillhart (independent director)

Yvonne was appointed on 1 September 2021. She was a co-founding senior partner and member of the Investment Committee of Akina AG, a Swiss-based specialised private equity manager which merged in 2017 with Unigestion S.A. Yvonne has over 30 years’ senior executive experience in business building, transformational leadership, private equity and infrastructure investment, finance, banking and risk and investment management across a broad range of industries and geographical regions.

Yvonne serves currently as a non-executive director and member of the Audit and Risk committee at UBS Asset Management Switzerland Ltd., and is both chairperson and member of the Social and Ethics committee of the South African EPE Capital Ltd. She holds a Director Certificate from Harvard Business School and the ESG Competent Boards Certificate. She is fluent in German, English, Spanish and French.

Previous publications

QuotedData has published 12 previous notes on PPET. You can read these by clicking the links in the table below or by visiting our website.

Figure 25: QuotedData’s previously published notes on PPET

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