Frank Jons: chromatic explosions!
He could have ended up as a partner in an auditing firm, but a job interview convinced him to follow his true calling: painting. Interview.
Claus Mansfeldt (Swancap): Private Equity Stronghold
Claus Mansfeldt, Chairman and Managing Director, says Swancap leveraged its 20 years of experience to face the Covid crisis and will now focus on the opportunities arising from the post-epidemic economy. Interview.
How is SwanCap navigating these interesting times?
By not changing course. By this I mean we stick to our knitting when faced with unknown uncertainty and disruption, which still remains the issue with Covid-19 and its variants continuing to cause havoc with livelihoods and economies. In SwanCap’s business, which is to manage investment programmes into best-in-class private equity buy-out funds and related co-investments, we know from 20+ years’ experience that a steady investment pace, even in “bad” times evens out the downside risk and captures also potential rebound-upside to produce relatively steady performance through cycles and over time.
What is the impact of ESG on your activity?
The ESG “label-impact” is definitely increasing, but the “fact-impact” of responsible investing isn’t changing so much. By this I mean that we already have a high degree of conscious ESG discipline in professional private equity firms and respective funds, only now there are more investor and regulatory requirements for detailing and documenting all aspects thereof.
"We already have a high degree of conscious ESG discipline in professional private equity firms and respective funds."
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What risk and opportunities do you identify in PE in the next five years?
The risks I see relate to excessive regulation, where e.g. private equity is singled out for micro-management and excessive cost-of-business compliance, very uneven when compared to private (or public) shareholders owning companies generally. The opportunity for PE in the next 5 years is huge. Why? Because any crisis raises the pressure on economic participants to adjust and execute rationally, swiftly and decisively, precisely the circumstance where the aligned interests of the private equity model excels.
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