Fund managers need to start looking beyond the immediate impact of the CV-19 crisis and prepare to play offence on the M&A front, LPs warn. 

The majority of GPs have been proactive in reaching out to investors during CV-19, it was highlighted in a webinar hosted by Real Deals and IPEM on investor best practice. 

Joana Scaff, head of European PE at Neuberger Berman said: “In a survey conducted by BVCA ( British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association), 90 per cent of investors indicated that their GPs are providing regular updates on CV-19 safety measures. In times of such unprecedented market dislocation, the higher the transparency between LP’s and GP’s, the better. While every fund is different, most GPs  are providing monthly updates." 

And yet, fund managers need to start looking beyond the immediate impact of the crisis. During the webinar it was revealed that the most useful GPs were able to predict the cascading impacts of the pandemic. 

Fund managers that have a more forward-looking approach and are able to identify the less obvious challenges to arise from global market dislocation, are going to be able to better differentiate themselves. 

“Most GPs have been very quick to tell investors that they are playing good defence, but they also need to show how they plan on playing good offence on the M&A front,”  Yup S. Kim, senior portfolio manager at Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, said.

While GPs want to show investors that they eager to recover and move forward, new opportunities require very different skill sets. “Funds and managers should concentrate on maximise their  skill set at this point,” Gilles Collombin, IR partner at Charterhouse, said.

For more guidance on how GPs can manage their investor communication efforts, listen to the webinar here.