The years of cheap leverage, expanding multiples and a relatively supportive macroeconomic backdrop are now but a distant memory. Private capital is navigating far less predictable waters: geopolitical tensions are reshaping the balance between countries, artificial intelligence is transforming entire industries, and slower exits and distributions are making the cycle connecting fundraising, investment and capital returns increasingly complex.
Against this backdrop, investing requires greater discipline, deeper sector expertise, stronger operational capabilities and a more selective approach to opportunities. This is the context in which IPEM Global 2026 will take place, from 8 to 10 September at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, with We Wealth returning as a media partner.
Private markets: returns are becoming harder to earn
The choice of this year’s theme, “Mastering the Course”, is no coincidence. It reflects a market in which there is no longer a single route to returns, and where the ability to navigate uncertainty has become an integral part of investment strategy.
The conditions that supported the expansion of private markets for many years are giving way to a more technical and competitive environment. Success will depend less on broad market momentum and increasingly on the quality of execution. Track records are being examined more closely. Media are scrutinising GPs more thoroughly, and investors are being more selective.
Performance, emerging managers and an industry in transition
The search for outperformance versus other asset classes will be one of the central themes of this year’s event, alongside how private equity performance should be assessed, what will define the private credit manager of the future and how different investment vintages can affect fund outcomes.
These questions reflect a growing focus not only on the amount of capital raised, but also on the ability to convert it into sustainable returns and tangible distributions for investors through timely and value-creating exits. IPEM Global will also examine the changing structure of the industry itself. Consolidation among large players continues, while emerging managers, independent sponsors and new platforms are seeking to establish themselves in a market where reputation, specialisation and access to investors are becoming increasingly important.
The programme will therefore bring established names into conversation with newer firms, while exploring the path that can take an emerging manager from a specialist strategy to a broader and more structured investment platform.
IPEM Global 2026 in numbers
The event will bring together around 6,000 participants from 2,400 companies and 50 countries in the heart of Paris. 1,600 limited partners and 900 fund management firms are expected to attend, alongside more than 400 exhibitors. Private equity, private debt, infrastructure, real assets, venture capital and secondaries will all be represented within an increasingly international audience.
The plenary sessions will address, among other topics, the convergence between public and private markets, the changing nature of illiquidity, the future of the mid-market and the development of platforms capable of offering multiple strategies under one roof.
The sectors most important and influential leaders will be present. Among the key speakers are: Scott Kleinman, Co-President, Apollo Global Management; Jonathan Sokoloff, Managing Partner, Leonard Green; Jenny Johnson, CEO, Franklin Templeton; Blair Jacobson, Co-President, Ares Management; Brian Bernasek, Co-Head of Americas Private Equity; Carlyle; Andrew Sillitoe, Co-CEO, APAX; Armen Panossian, Co-CEO, Oaktree, Brookfield, Steffen Meister, Partners Group.
Private capital, sovereignty and a new geopolitical order
Geopolitics is no longer simply an external risk to be factored into portfolio construction. It is becoming an investment variable in its own right, influencing the allocation of capital towards infrastructure, defence, energy security, critical raw materials and strategic technologies. This shift will be explored at the new Sovereignty Summit, which will examine the role of private markets in financing assets considered essential to economic and industrial autonomy.
Discussions will cover Europe’s defence investment gap, competition for the resources required by the energy transition and the continent’s ability to develop digital infrastructure that is less dependent on external providers. The focus on sovereignty points to a broader transformation. Private capital is being asked not only to support corporate growth, but also to contribute to the development of supply chains, infrastructure and technological capabilities regarded as strategic by governments.
For investors, this means assessing opportunities where financial returns, industrial policy and national security are becoming increasingly intertwined.
AI enters portfolios and investment firms
Artificial intelligence will also be central to the 2026 edition, with a summit entirely dedicated to a technology that is already reshaping the financial industry. The discussion will extend beyond companies developing AI models and applications to cover the entire value chain: from opportunities in venture capital and growth equity to data centres, digital infrastructure and the energy required to support rising computing demand.
AI will also be examined from within portfolio companies and investment firms themselves. Part of the programme will consider whether investment in artificial intelligence is already generating measurable results across portfolio companies, and how fund managers can integrate these technologies into their operating processes, investment selection and value-creation strategies.
The LP Congress puts allocators back at the centre
IPEM Global 2026 will also see the return of the IPEM LP Congress on 8 September for its second edition. Designed “by allocators, for allocators”, the invitation-only gathering will provide institutional limited partners, sovereign wealth funds and leading family offices with a dedicated forum for discussion.
On 9 and 10 September, the wider programme will be structured around eleven summits covering venture capital and growth, infrastructure, independent sponsors, emerging managers, value creation, private debt, private equity, secondaries, Asia-Pacific, artificial intelligence and sovereignty. These will be accompanied by plenary sessions, keynote speeches and specialist discussions.
Yet the significance of IPEM Global 2026 extends beyond a sequence of meetings and conferences. In an industry facing more expensive capital, less predictable exits and new geopolitical priorities, finding direction ultimately means making choices: choosing the markets, managers and capabilities on which to build the next cycle. It also means accepting that, in the private markets of the future, returns will depend less on favourable conditions and increasingly on conviction, specialisation and execution.
“Alternative assets, now more than ever, must prove themselves. With so many outside factors affecting the industry, resulting in thinner deal flow and slower fundraising, the sector leaders need to demonstrate their ability to create Alpha that outshines other asset classes. IPEM Global 2026 will be an exciting opportunity for leaders to gather and discuss challenges and opportunities as well as paint a future path to outperformance for Alternatives, showing they are up to mastering the course”, Antoine Colson, Executive Chairman and Founder of IPEM, commented.
