In our Private Markets Classroom Series, IPC faculty, fellows, and other experts will provide an educational dive into a broad range of important private capital topics. Register below and join live to learn and ask questions in real time. You will also find recordings of past sessions for our members to revisit.
Aug 19, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
As continuation vehicles become an established part of private equity, LPs are examining whether fund documents are keeping pace. This session will explore how LPAs are evolving to address governance, conflicts, transparency, and alignment while preserving the flexibility needed for an increasingly dynamic market.
Moderator:
Greg Brown, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School & IPC
Discussants:
Craig Demko, North Carolina Investment Authority
Mike Elio, StepStone Group
Natalia Kubik, Debevoise
July 22, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
From diversified, market-driven approaches to more specialized asset-level opportunities, this session will discuss a wide range of strategies for investors allocating across real assets including real estate, infrastructure, and energy.
Moderator:
Greg Brown, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School & IPC
Discussants:
Andy Hoffmann, Investment Director, North Carolina Investment Authority
Albert Lee, Senior Portfolio Manager, APG
Petya Nikolova, Deputy CIO and Head of Infrastructure Investments, Office of the New York City Comptroller
June 17, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
Join us as we explore how institutional investors are reassessing hedge fund allocations, portfolio construction, and the evolving role of alternative investments in today’s market.
Moderator:
Greg Brown, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School & IPC
Discussants:
Jon Caplis, PivotalPath
Chris Schelling, Aksia
May 20, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
Join Amit Sinha (Partner, Head of Quantitative Investment Solutions, Ares Management) and Dominic Garcia (Chief Pension Investment Strategist, CBRE) for a discussion of TPA and private markets. They will introduce a Complications Framework to help investors assess the tradeoffs between adding complexity and returns, and understand whether a portfolio complication earns its place.
April 29, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this session, Keith Crouch (Executive Director, MSCI Research & Development) will present on the evolving structure of private credit markets using data from MSCI’s Private Capital Universe. The presentation introduces a new taxonomy to better categorize strategies across the asset class, and highlights key performance trends, risk drivers, and emerging developments, including the rapid growth of evergreen private credit vehicles.
March 18, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
Valuation of illiquid assets has always been a challenge. However, the importance of accurate valuations in real time is of increasing importance with the growth of evergreen funds that allow investors to enter and exit private asset products at stated NAVs. In this session, industry and academic expert will discussion valuation methods and current best practices.
Moderator:
Greg Brown, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School & IPC
Discussants:
Akash Chitrey, StepStone Group
Oleg Gredil, Tulane University
Ben Song, Fidelity Investments
*Recording not yet available. Get in touch for more details
Feb 18, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
Presenter: Antti Suhonen, Aalto University School of Business
Co-author: Juha Joenväärä, Aalto University School of Business
Abstract: We provide the first evidence on the returns and risk characteristics of private credit indexes calculated by MSCI, Pitchbook, and Preqin. Broad private credit indexes have outperformed liquid credit markets in both absolute and risk-adjusted terms from 2001 to 2024. We develop a parsimonious two-factor benchmark model based on traded credit and equity factors, demonstrating that this model accounts for almost 90% of the time variation in private credit index returns. Exposure to the equity factor in private credit is significant, suggesting that models based solely on credit factors may overestimate the alpha in private credit. Among credit and equity benchmarks, our analysis indicates that leveraged loans and small-cap value equities provide the greatest explanatory power for the benchmark model, particularly in the more recent post-financial-crisis data. Additionally, we observe variability in the factor exposures and alphas across private credit sub-strategies, indicating that most of the asset class’s outperformance is driven by direct lending funds, while opportunistic and asset-backed lending have detracted from the performance of broad indexes. Link to full paper.
Jan 28, 2026 – 11:00AM (ET)
Join a fireside chat with Andrew Palmer, CIO of Maryland State Retirement System (retired), to reflect on lessons learned during a 40-year career in the asset management business. The discussion will include thoughts on investment decisions, manager selection, governance, and relationship/client management. The session will be moderated by Prof. Greg Brown (IPC & UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School) and include the opportunity for participants to submit questions.
Oct 15, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
The increasingly popular “Total Portfolio Approach” is often described as a unified way or assessing risk and return of the whole portfolio. But what does this look like in practice? In this classroom series, Prof. David Robinson (Duke Fuqua School of Business) will provide an academic overview of the broad trends in asset management and in modern institutional portfolio management – including the rise of TPA. Will Scott (CPP Investments) will then join in conversation to discuss CPP’s approach.
Sept 24, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
The Trump administration has unleashed an unprecedented series of major policy initiatives with the potential to fundamentally alter the geopolitical landscape. In this session, Prof. Christian Lundblad (UNC Kenan-Flagler) will explore the effect of policy shifts on markets year to date as well as potential future impacts. Specific topics will include possible re-alignment of trade blocks, stagflation risk, risk of declining USD dominance, and fiscal/monetary policy effects.
Aug 20, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
This session featured Juliana Hadas (Alternative Investments Strategist, Goldman Sachs Asset Management) and Prof. Greg Brown (UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School) for an in-depth look at Evergreen Funds, with insights from Goldman Sachs recent white paper “Choose Your Vehicle: A Closer Look at Private Market Fund Structures“. This discussion will explore the unique benefits and trade-offs of Evergreen Fund structures, and what their increasing popularity signals for investors and the evolving private markets landscape.
July 30, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
Prof. Greg Brown will discuss how investible markets have evolved over the last 75 years. The analysis starts with the resurgence of public markets after WW-II followed by the transformational role of structured finance and derivatives in the 1970s and 1980s. These technological developments along with the growth of large institutional investors paved the way for the phenomenal growth of private markets over the last 25 years. Prof. Brown will discuss what this means for various types of investors and how investors in private markets must consider a wider range of investment factors than investors in public markets.
June 18, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this session Pete Witte (Global Private Equity Lead Analyst, EY) will present findings from the new EY Private Equity Value Creation Benchmark Survey. As financing costs rise and multiple expansion opportunities decline, operational value creation and the Operating Partner role have become central to how firms manage risk and drive returns. Firms have invested in various models, from in-house generalist advisors to specialized teams and external advisors. This survey analyzes industry practices in diligence, value creation initiatives, and the staffing and deployment of operating resources, and considers the merits and limitations of different approaches.
May 28, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this webinar, Prof. Aymeric Bellon (UNC Kenan-Flagler), will explore the emerging field of energy transition finance, focusing on how private capital can support the decarbonization of modern economies. Financing the energy transition is distinct due to significant tax incentives and the presence of stakeholders driven by more than just financial returns. We will offer a comprehensive overview of key industry trends, financial instruments, core concepts, and the challenges shaping this evolving field.
April 16, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this session Alex Abell (Managing Partner at RCP Investments) will provide a comprehensive overview of the lower middle market – how it is defined, how it operates, and how it differs from larger buyout markets. This discussion will highlight the unique opportunities that are available to investors entering into this market, as well as challenges to consider, and what you need to know to navigate them successfully. Alex’s talk will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Prof. David Robinson (Duke Fuqua), so join live to ask your questions.
March 19, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this session Prof. Greg Brown (IPC; UNC Kenan-Flagler) presents findings from a new IPC study on the relationship between General Partner (GP) commitment levels and private equity fund performance. Using a first-of-its-kind large-sample analysis of 1,503 funds, the study examines the trade-off between GP-LP incentive alignment and GP risk-aversion, finding that the optimal GP commitment percentage falls within the 10-13% range – substantially higher than the current average commitment levels. Phil Berney, Chairman of Kelso, will join for a discussion of the role of GP commits, and the perspective from a practitioner.
February 19, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
Combining data from leading commercial hedge fund vendor databases with confidential regulatory filings, Juha Joenväärä (Associate Professor of Finance at Aalto University) provides a comprehensive evaluation of hedge fund industry size, performance, and investor flows. We estimate that the industry manage worldwide net assets that are much bigger than the largest vendor estimate. Funds that report only via regulatory filings exhibit better risk-adjusted performance (“alpha”), stronger performance persistence, and a lower sensitivity of investor flows to past returns, relative to those reporting to vendor databases.
January 22, 2025 – 11:00AM (ET)
Wes Bradle (FLSBA) and Mike Elio (StepStone Group) discuss best practices in conducting due diligence of private equity investment opportunities. Topics will include assessing performance, unpacking return drivers, and determining value-creation potential. This will be an opportunity to see how sophisticated investors get under the hood to uncover return opportunities and risk profiles of a general partner’s investment process.
December 11, 2024 – 11:00AM (ET)
Prof. Andrei Goncalves (Ohio State University) presents on the effects of illiquidity and smoothed returns in performance measurement.
November 20, 2024 – 11:00AM (ET)
Join Prof. Greg Brown (UNC Chapel Hill) for an overview of recent research projects from the Private Equity Research Consortium (PERC).
October 16, 2024 – 11:00AM (ET)
The session will address approaches to measuring performance persistence, what the evidence tells us about GPs’ success in repeating good performance, whether/how LP investors can benefit from persistence, and how things differ between buyout and venture capital funds. With Bob Harris, C. Stewart Sheppard Professor of Business Administration, UVA Darden
September 25, 2024 – 11:00AM (ET)
Research has identified a variety of factors related to vintage year performance. This presentation reviews these results and discusses the feasibility of timing LP commitments to funds in an effort to add value through investment cycles. With David Robinson, James and Gail Vander Weide Professor of Finance at Duke Fuqua.
August 21, 2024 – 11:00AM (ET)
In this session, Arthur Korteweg, Associate Professor of Finance and Business Economics at USC Marshall, will give an overview of estimation methods for assessing VC and buyout risk.
July 24, 2024
This session with Greg Brown, IPC Research Director and UNC Kenan-Flagler Professor, discusses the issues which LPs should be most cognizant of when utilizing fund performance measures.
June 19, 2024
With Greg Brown, IPC Research Director and UNC Kenan-Flagler Professor, this session will cover the most common performance metrics in private markets including pros and cons of different methods.