CAIA members launch CAIA Germany – the Association’s 11th global chapter and one of the fastest-growing CAIA communities in Europe

Thursday, December 17, 2009

In the afternoon of the 8th of December at the splendid Villa Kennedy in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Craig Asche (CAIA Association’s Executive Director) joined over 70 CAIA members, candidates and friends to open an education event and celebrate the inauguration of CAIA Association’s 11th global chapter and 4th chapter in Europe. Germany saw an increase from just slightly above 10 CAIA members in 2006 to well over 100 CAIAs in 2009.

Craig also presented the two CAIA Chapter Germany Executives Robert Koller-Vernot and I – Christian Voit – who organized the event and each led a panel.

Dr Löffler from Allianz Climate Solutions presented the various issues and topics on climate change. Then two panel discussions about the impact the financial crisis of 2008 had on hedge funds and private equity funds followed.

The private equity panel (which I moderated) consisted of Jeremy Golding (Golding Capital Partners, a fund of funds), Detlef Mackewicz (Capital Dynamics, a fund of funds), and Nick Money-Kyle (Steadfast Capital, a mid-market buyout fund). In contrast to hedge funds, which I will leave to Robert to comment on, the impact of the crisis on private equity funds was more gradual. In particular, the credit crunch meant that little to no financing was available, so large buyout deals had become a challenge. Notably some small- to mid-market deals took place. Also, leverage explained only a limited portion of the private equity returns, so that a reduction of bank leverage in the capital structure of a deal would only have a limited impact on the returns.

Exit opportunities also dried up for IPOs and auction deals. This predominantly affected venture capital and buyout transactions, however, the panelists noted a trend to more privately negotiated deals.

It was not all ‘doom and gloom’ and the panel also identified some winners of the crisis - in particular, mezzanine funds and secondary funds benefited from improved pricing and an increase in the supply of opportunities.

On the fundraising side the general mood was not very bullish, but looking back in history private equity fundraising had seen these cycles in former times. Also, Asian private equity funds and secondary funds had a positive response from European investors.

The event concluded with a buffet dinner where the participants engaged in a lively discussion about CAIA, the world, and last but not least a good pint of German beer or wine.

Here are some of the photos and resources from the event.

Christian Voit, CAIA
CAIA Germany Chapter Executive

Comments

December 23, 2009 - 10:49am — E. Asche

Congratulations

What an outstanding event indeed; and fitting for the launch of our latest (#11) chapter!

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the attendees and listening to the insightful comments of the speaker and panelists.

Much credit goes to German Chapter executives Robert Koller-Vernot and Christian Voit for their time and effort, to Ahmet Peker for his invaluable assistance in organizing speakers and venues for previous events and to Germany’s early chapter advocates – Mark Wiltshire, Gunther Jost and Rene Dobler, all of whom have since relocated elsewhere but without whose initiative this would not have come to pass in such a short timeframe.

I look forward to many more such events in the coming year!

E. Craig Asche
Executive Director

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