“The challenges of liquidity, consolidation and expansion towards Wealth clients will be the focus of this year’s International Private Equity Market, which opens in Cannes on January 28.”

Read the full article, including commentary by Grégoire Andrieux, in French via paywall here.

Third-party litigation funding is a multi-billion-dollar business in the US, and market forecasts show continued growth with a focus on access, education and regulation.  

Schulte partner and co-head of the Finance Group Boris Ziser recently spoke with Commercial Dispute Resolution Magazine on third-party litigation funding and its influence on the legal system. Boris explains that this type of funding fundamentally enables plaintiffs who lack sufficient resources to pursue litigation for their cases. 

“Litigation is very expensive. I don’t see how anyone can argue with the fact that litigation funding increases access to justice,” he states.  

Looking ahead, litigation funding continues to be a legitimate financial tool and is expected to continue in its upward trajectory. While not as large as major investment markets, “there is availability of capital for cases that have merit and a high likelihood of success,” Boris affirms. 

As the market expands, Boris aims to raise awareness and support regulations that are appropriate for this growing industry. He calls for “better education of the senators and the congressmen, whether state or federal, around litigation. Creating laws or proposing rule changes with only the Chamber of Commerce viewpoint is simply going to hurt the population that those politicians are trying to protect.” 

He adds that “the regulations [should be] drafted in a way that addresses actual problems and not problems that don’t exist.” 

In 2024, continuation funds were one of the strategies increasingly used by GPs looking to extend the holding period of promising assets at the end of a fund’s lifecycle. With more managers than ever turning to continuation funds, this growth is a sign of the times across private capital.  

Schulte partner and co-head of the Private Equity Funds Group Joseph Smith shared his insights on continuation funds with Preqin, exploring utilization trends in recent years. “Any GP who hasn’t done one yet is thinking about it. This is now a standard tool. The only issues are how many times a given portfolio company can be transacted in this way and whether LPs will be more inclined to roll forward rather than redeem out as interest rates ease and liquidity returns,” Joe stated.  

Over the past few years, continuation funds have shifted away from holding “zombie portfolios” to invest in prize assets that quickly generate value. In this article, Joe explains that there has been a “great boom” in GP-led secondaries intended to “help GPs grow unicorns” on behalf of secondaries investors, while providing much-needed liquidity to the LPs that invested on a primary basis.

Read the article.