Key Takeaways
- • Private Equity Wire held its 2023 European Awards ceremony on March 8 at the Reform Club in London, recognizing excellence among European-based private equity fund managers and service providers across multiple asset classes and geographies.
- • Awards spanned comprehensive categories covering fund performance and fundraising success across buyout, growth, fund of funds, secondaries, co-investment, debt, real estate, and real assets strategies, plus dedicated service provider categories.
- • Voting methodology utilized an online poll of the Private Equity Wire userbase, with fund manager candidate pre-selection data sourced from Bloomberg to ensure standardized evaluation across all asset size groupings.
- • Best Fundraising Funds criteria required European-based manager presence, 2019-2021 fund vintage years, active fundraising status, and minimum 50% achievement of stated capital targets—excluding open-ended funds from consideration.
- • Notable winners included Climate Fund Managers (Best Climate/ESG Fund), A&M (Best Deal Advisory Firm), 17Capital (Best Fund Financing Solution), Erisbeg Management Limited (Best Overall Fundraising in Buyout), and multiple service providers across foreign exchange, recruitment, and operational solutions.
Summary
Private Equity Wire, a leading publication covering the European private equity industry, announced the winners of its 2023 European Awards on March 8, recognizing outstanding achievement among fund managers and service providers. The ceremony and networking event, held at the Reform Club in London, represents an annual industry recognition program designed to benchmark excellence across the private equity ecosystem.
The awards program encompassed two primary categories: GP manager awards recognizing fund performance and fundraising success, and service provider awards spanning operational support functions. Fund manager categories included traditional buyout strategies alongside specialized segments including growth equity, fund of funds, secondaries, co-investment platforms, private credit, real estate, and real assets. This broad categorization reflects the diversification within the European private markets landscape across both strategy type and asset class.
The selection process employed a democratic voting mechanism through an online poll of Private Equity Wire's entire userbase, enabling stakeholders across the industry to participate in candidate selection. Shortlisting for fund managers utilized pre-selection data provided by Bloomberg, with standardized criteria applied across all asset size groupings. For the Best Fundraising Funds category specifically, eligibility required managers to maintain a primary physical office presence in Europe, operate funds with vintage years between 2019 and 2021, actively fundraise or simultaneously fundraise and invest, and achieve a minimum of 50% of stated capital targets. Open-ended funds were excluded from consideration. Currency conversions to USD were standardized using mid-price rates at the reported evaluation date.
Among the recognized winners, Climate Fund Managers secured distinction in the ESG/climate-focused fund category, positioning sustainable investing solutions as a competitive priority within European private markets. Additional winners included A&M in deal advisory, 17Capital in fund financing solutions, and Erisbeg Management Limited as the best overall fundraising manager in the buyout category. Service provider awards also recognized excellence across foreign exchange solutions and recruitment specialization in operations and finance functions, reflecting the critical infrastructure supporting operational execution at institutional PE firms.
The awards program encompassed two primary categories: GP manager awards recognizing fund performance and fundraising success, and service provider awards spanning operational support functions. Fund manager categories included traditional buyout strategies alongside specialized segments including growth equity, fund of funds, secondaries, co-investment platforms, private credit, real estate, and real assets. This broad categorization reflects the diversification within the European private markets landscape across both strategy type and asset class.
The selection process employed a democratic voting mechanism through an online poll of Private Equity Wire's entire userbase, enabling stakeholders across the industry to participate in candidate selection. Shortlisting for fund managers utilized pre-selection data provided by Bloomberg, with standardized criteria applied across all asset size groupings. For the Best Fundraising Funds category specifically, eligibility required managers to maintain a primary physical office presence in Europe, operate funds with vintage years between 2019 and 2021, actively fundraise or simultaneously fundraise and invest, and achieve a minimum of 50% of stated capital targets. Open-ended funds were excluded from consideration. Currency conversions to USD were standardized using mid-price rates at the reported evaluation date.
Among the recognized winners, Climate Fund Managers secured distinction in the ESG/climate-focused fund category, positioning sustainable investing solutions as a competitive priority within European private markets. Additional winners included A&M in deal advisory, 17Capital in fund financing solutions, and Erisbeg Management Limited as the best overall fundraising manager in the buyout category. Service provider awards also recognized excellence across foreign exchange solutions and recruitment specialization in operations and finance functions, reflecting the critical infrastructure supporting operational execution at institutional PE firms.
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