Partners Group is one of the great success stories of Switzerland’s financial centre. Founded in 1996, the company has grown into a global private-markets group with $186 billion in assets under management. But this year the company has come under pressure.

Concerns about the evergreen funds business, a weaker result and the sharp fall in the share price have weighed on investor confidence. In September, Partners Group then announced a change at the operational helm: Roberto Cagnati and Juri Jenkner are to take over as co-CEOs at the beginning of 2027. The current CEO David Layton will move into the role of Chief Investment Officer.

For Klaus Biermann and Jonas Neff of the Zurich executive search firm BiermannNeff, the development is more than a personnel reshuffle. They see it as an opportunity to adjust structures and realign the company more closely with its original strengths.

Grown Too Fast?

In their view, part of today’s challenges is, paradoxically, a consequence of the enormous success of recent years.

Partners Group grew very quickly and, in the process, built up structures and additional management layers, says Klaus Biermann. As a result, some of the entrepreneurial directness that had originally set the company apart was lost in certain areas.

Klaus Biermann (left) and Jonas Neff. (Image: courtesy of the company)

He draws a deliberately pointed comparison: in certain areas, Partners Group has caught a “Credit Suisse virus” in the sense that too many hierarchical levels emerged, too much politics crept in and it was no longer always clear who was responsible for what.

Biermann views the fact that Partners Group is now taking decisive countermeasures positively. In such a restructuring, it can certainly happen that even very good executives and specialists leave the company. What matters is that the organisation becomes simpler, more direct and more forceful again.

An Attractive Talent Pool For The Competition

For the headhunters, the changes at Partners Group are immediately noticeable on the labour market. Executives and specialists at the company are currently more open to discussions about a move.

That does not mean, however, that the people concerned are of poor quality. On the contrary: Jonas Neff describes the quality of many professionals currently entering the market as exceptionally high.

Klaus Biermann accordingly speaks of a “great talent pool” for other financial companies. Many of these professionals are now willing to look at new platforms.

However, the rule is: the higher the hierarchical level, the smaller the market for comparable roles becomes.

A European leadership role or the head of a large institutional business cannot be replaced at will. Anyone who wants or needs to move therefore requires a certain degree of flexibility — possibly also in terms of the area of responsibility and compensation.

Private Markets Are Maturing

In the view of the two recruiters, this reflects a broader structural shift.

The private-markets industry is becoming institutionalised. New providers are entering the market, established global firms are expanding their platforms and competition for client assets is intensifying. This is also changing the labour market.

“The party is not over,” says Klaus Biermann. “But the flame may be burning a little less brightly.”

What was once a relatively exclusive market with a small number of large providers is becoming increasingly broad-based. On the platforms of major asset managers, numerous private-markets firms are now competing for capital.

For Partners Group, that means: even if the market as a whole is growing, the pie is being divided among more players.

Structures Had to be Adjusted

The two headhunters are critical of certain developments in the leadership structure over recent years.

From Klaus Biermann’s perspective, proximity between corporate leadership and the headquarters is particularly important. A CEO or other central leader must be sufficiently present where the “heart and soul” of the company are located.

Especially at a company whose culture has been shaped strongly by its founders, leadership can only be decoupled from geography to a limited extent.

Against this backdrop, the announced leadership change takes on additional significance. Cagnati and Jenkner are both long-serving Partners Group managers. Layton will remain with the company as CIO. Partners Group itself says the new leadership structure is intended to position the company for the next growth and transformation cycle.

The Founders as a Trump Card

Klaus Biermann and Jonas Neff see Partners Group’s decisive strength where it all began: with the entrepreneurs behind the company.

The co-founders Alfred Gantner, Marcel Erni and Urs Wietlisbach continue to serve on the board of directors as executive members. Steffen Meister, who joined Partners Group in 2000 and led the company as CEO from 2005 to 2013, is executive chairman.

For Biermann, that is precisely one of the most important reasons why he views the current situation positively despite all the challenges.

The founders and long-standing leaders know the company, its culture and its DNA like almost no one else. At the same time, they now have the necessary distance and experience to question developments critically and drive forward the changes needed.

The headwinds of recent months may even release new energy. After many years of strong growth, a moment has now emerged in which entrepreneurial ambition and clear decisions are once again required.

“Maybe the three musketeers are back on board more strongly now,” says Biermann. “And that is exactly where a great opportunity lies.”

The restructuring is likely to take time, however. Talks are of a transformation process spanning several years.

Operationally, Partners Group is by no means facing a pile of rubble. In the first half of 2026, the company raised $16 billion. Management income rose by 12 percent in constant currency, while the EBITDA margin remained at a high level of 63 percent. At the same time, performance fees declined sharply.

Individual fundraisings also show the scale of the business: in July, Partners Group closed its fourth direct infrastructure programme with more than $15 billion and an infrastructure secondaries programme with more than $5.5 billion.

A Matter of Trust

For Biermann, one of the most important challenges therefore lies less in the operating business itself than in perception.

Among institutional investors, a loss of trust can take on a life of its own. If boards of trustees, investment committees or foundation boards begin asking fundamental questions about the risks of Partners Group products, the brand itself becomes the issue.

That is precisely why it is important for the company now to visibly create clarity and win back trust.

For Klaus Biermann, the current phase is by no means necessarily the beginning of a decline. On the contrary: the combination of market headwinds, experienced founders and a willingness to rebuild structures could be a real opportunity.

His assessment is accordingly positive: Partners Group could emerge from this phase stronger. Compared with Credit Suisse at the time, real “doers” are at the helm. 

The party is not over. Perhaps the next chapter is just beginning.