Nearly 400 general and limited partners packed Markets Group‘s Private Equity San Francisco Forum 2025, where conversations on secondaries, artificial intelligence, and fundraising dominated the sidelines.
From Laurence Tosi and Rich Lawson to Yann Robard and other top private equity leaders, insights came fast, candid, forward-looking, and delightfully unfiltered. If the sidelines were any indication, this year’s deal-making mood is equal parts realism and reinvention.
💥 Click here to request the agenda for our next Private Equity Forum in Boston.
Secondaries surge and creative liquidity
Across the day, one theme was impossible to ignore: secondaries are surging. Continuation vehicles and creative liquidity were front and center, with participants describing 2025 as one of the most active market environments yet. Still, LPs highlighted that they’re seeking opportunities with transparency, pacing discipline, and a long-term story that survives higher rates. The Private Equity San Francisco Forum 2025 made it clear — fundraising may ebb and flow, but disciplined capital never goes out of style.
Fundraising, relationships, and the human factor
Fundraising, as one panelist put it, “is a contact sport.” Technology can sharpen analytics, but AI only works when the humans do. The recurring refrain: judgment, relationships, and mentorship still separate good from great. Environmental, social, and corporate governance conversations matured into risk-management strategy, while health care and real assets continued to attract allocator interest.
Insights from the sidelines
Our sidelines videos captured it all — unfiltered perspectives on deal flow, exit readiness, and practical advice for the next generation: stay curious, tell the truth, and build with people you’d trust across cycles.
“The exit starts before the deal — because building a great business never stops.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Rich Lawson, Co-Founder & CEO of HGGC
“It’s not the AI startups — it’s the incumbents who embrace AI that will win.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Laurence L.T. Tosi, Founder and Managing Partner of WestCap
The private equity secondary market isn’t just active — it’s undercapitalized and on the verge of breaking records.
🎥 Watch the interview with Yann Robard, Managing Partner at Dawson Partners
The IPO market isn’t dead — just sleeping.
🎥 Watch the interview with Spencer McLeod, Partner at G Squared
“It’s a tale of two markets.”
“In private equity, the exit starts long before the deal closes.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Peter Tsang, Co-Chief Investment Officer of RCAF at the The Riverside Company
“The delta between selecting in the top quartile and the median is several hundred basis points.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Zach Jackson, Investment Partner at QIC
Private equity for wealth managers is evolving fast – and Steve Biggs, Managing Director & Head of Alternatives at The Mather Group says the ever green era is here to stay.
“We look for great operators investing in strong companies that align with an ESG or sustainability arc we believe in.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Abdur Nimeri, CEO of West Mountain Group
“Disclosure, detail, and the ability to tell your story — those are what truly matter.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Damien Charlety, CEO of the AC Transit Employees’ Retirement Plan
“Continuation vehicles are a trend that’s here to stay — they’re driving real momentum and reshaping the secondary market.”
🎥 Watch the interview with Paul Lanna, Investment Partner at Coller Capital
These conversations aren’t just commentary; they’re forward guidance from the people allocating capital. If you want to stay close to the signal, stay close to the sidelines.
💥 Click here to request the agenda for our next Private Equity Forum in Boston.
