Partners Group, a prominent asset management firm, has rolled out a new investment approach termed the 'special opportunities' strategy. This program is positioned as an adjunct to the firm's existing suite, which includes private equity, infrastructure, private credit, real estate, and royalties investment vehicles. By introducing this strategy, the company aims to seize market inefficiencies and opportunities arising from significant economic transitions anticipated over the coming decade.
The move to incorporate a dedicated framework for special situations aligns with an emerging belief within the firm that economic and market flux will generate distinctive prospects for strategic investment. These prospects necessitate agile and specialized capital solutions beyond traditional investment models.
Central to this initiative is Joshua Hartz, who has been recruited as partner and global head of special opportunities. Bringing with him more than 19 years of experience, including his prior role at Bain Capital, Hartz is tasked with assembling and leading an international team focused on identifying and executing investments within this newly defined space. Operating between Partners Group's Zug and Sydney offices, Hartz will steer efforts to integrate this strategy into the broader organizational platform, ensuring global reach and local responsiveness across markets in the United States, Europe, and Asia.
“Historically, during both times of dislocation and market expansion, special opportunities strategies have been relied on to drive transformation and growth in companies,” Hartz stated. He elaborated that the current economic landscape—characterized by accelerated technological advancement, imminent debt maturity challenges, decelerating GDP growth, and persistent inflation—presents an expanding array of transactions that require flexible private capital solutions.
The newly established strategy focuses specifically on three transaction categories that span corporate financing, real asset management, and liquidity-providing mechanisms where conventional capital sources are constrained or absent. These include:
- Provision of structured liquidity to founder-led or growth-stage businesses that might not fit traditional funding models, thereby facilitating continued expansion or transition.
- Investment in high-quality assets that are experiencing balance sheet constraints, which limits their access to capital despite underlying value and growth potential.
- Offering liquidity solutions where standard capital avenues are unavailable, enabling the unlocking of value in otherwise illiquid scenarios.
Juri Jenkner, President of Partners Group, highlighted the strategic value by noting that special situations deliver a “distinct mix of characteristics” to client portfolios. These features include enhanced downside protection, favorable upside potential, and typically shorter investment durations. This approach fills a niche along the risk-return spectrum that may not be addressed by existing strategies.
The launch of this special opportunities strategy marks the latest expansion of Partners Group’s multi-strategy platform for private markets. This is part of a broader trend of diversification following the firm's addition of royalties investments in late 2024. Currently, the firm manages assets exceeding $185 billion globally across multiple asset classes.
By anchoring this strategy in robust global team leadership and an integrated platform, Partners Group positions itself to leverage the evolving economic dynamics and capital needs of diverse industries and geographies. The focus on flexibility in capital deployment addresses a growing demand for solutions able to respond to liquidity and financing complexities that traditional investment vehicles may not adequately serve.
This development underscores the firm's commitment to adapting investment frameworks in concert with macroeconomic and technological shifts, ensuring that it can continue to provide client portfolios with differentiated risk-adjusted returns in a rapidly changing marketplace.