Interview with Briac Houtteville, Managing Director - Future Standard

In this interview, Briac Houtteville, European Head of Secondary Transactions at Future Standard, analyzes the rise of evergreen funds in private equity. These structures are seeing growing demand because they make private equity more accessible: lower entry thresholds, regular subscriptions, periodic liquidity, and continuous reinvestment of capital. They also appeal to certain institutional investors, particularly for optimizing their cash flow and better aligning their assets with their long-term commitments. Briac Houtteville emphasizes, however, that Evergreen funds are complex to manage. Their periodic liquidity requires rigorous management of cash flows, reporting, onboarding, and redemption needs. In this context, the secondary market plays a key role: it allows for investment in pre-established, more mature portfolios, offering greater visibility into assets, valuations, and future distributions. The current environment makes the secondary market particularly attractive. The slowdown in private equity distributions is driving many institutional investors to seek liquidity, making the secondary market a central tool for portfolio management. According to Briac Houtteville, this market is expected to continue growing strongly in the coming years, particularly thanks to Evergreen solutions. He also notes that returns in the secondary market do not come solely from purchase discounts. True value creation relies above all on selecting the best funds, the best assets, and the right vintages.