Key Takeaways
- • Urs Wietlisbach, co-founder of Partners Group, is restructuring PG3 AG, the shared family office established in 2013 to manage combined founder wealth, signaling early-stage succession planning within the firm's leadership.
- • A new independent investment unit will be carved out within PG3 AG and led by Jascha Forster, currently chief investment officer at Spectrum Value Management (billionaire Thomas Schmidheily's family office), representing the first significant departure from PG3's integrated management model.
- • The restructuring occurs amid operational headwinds at Partners Group itself, which has experienced investor redemptions from evergreen funds, sharp year-to-date stock declines, and prompted senior executives and founders to increase personal share purchases.
- • Partners Group manages approximately CHF 147 billion ($185 billion) in assets across private markets and was founded by Wietlisbach, Alfred Gantner, and Marcel Erni after the three met at Goldman Sachs.
- • The founders are simultaneously negotiating a revised shareholder agreement to formalize longer-term governance and decision-making protocols across their personal holdings.
Summary
Urs Wietlisbach, billionaire co-founder of Swiss private markets firm Partners Group, is undertaking a strategic reorganization of PG3 AG, the family office that has managed the combined personal wealth of the firm's three founding partners since 2013. According to Bloomberg's sources, the restructuring represents the first material shift in the platform's governance structure and reflects deliberate succession planning as the founding generation addresses longer-term wealth management arrangements.
The planned restructuring involves carving out a more independent investment unit within PG3 AG that will operate separately from the collective wealth management model that has historically characterized the platform. This new unit is expected to be led by Jascha Forster, who currently serves as chief investment officer at Spectrum Value Management, the family office managing assets for Swiss billionaire Thomas Schmidheily. Neither PG3 AG nor Forster provided immediate comment on the arrangements. The transition marks a formal acknowledgment that the unified governance structure established at PG3's inception requires evolution as the founders advance in their wealth management lifecycle.
The timing of this restructuring carries particular significance given operational pressures at Partners Group itself. The firm, which oversees approximately CHF 147 billion ($185 billion) in global private markets assets, has faced substantial investor scrutiny in recent months. The company experienced notable redemption activity within its evergreen fund vehicles and has seen its stock price decline sharply year-to-date, creating pressure on shareholder value. In response, senior executives and the founding partners have materially increased their personal share purchases, a signaling mechanism often deployed to demonstrate confidence in the firm's long-term trajectory during periods of market volatility.
Beyond the family office restructuring, the three founding partners—Wietlisbach, Alfred Gantner, and Marcel Erni, who originally met while employed at Goldman Sachs—are simultaneously negotiating a revised shareholder agreement. This agreement is intended to establish clearer protocols for future decision-making across their collective and individual holdings, further formalizing governance structures that have evolved organically over the past thirteen years as their respective business and personal wealth management complexities have expanded.
The planned restructuring involves carving out a more independent investment unit within PG3 AG that will operate separately from the collective wealth management model that has historically characterized the platform. This new unit is expected to be led by Jascha Forster, who currently serves as chief investment officer at Spectrum Value Management, the family office managing assets for Swiss billionaire Thomas Schmidheily. Neither PG3 AG nor Forster provided immediate comment on the arrangements. The transition marks a formal acknowledgment that the unified governance structure established at PG3's inception requires evolution as the founders advance in their wealth management lifecycle.
The timing of this restructuring carries particular significance given operational pressures at Partners Group itself. The firm, which oversees approximately CHF 147 billion ($185 billion) in global private markets assets, has faced substantial investor scrutiny in recent months. The company experienced notable redemption activity within its evergreen fund vehicles and has seen its stock price decline sharply year-to-date, creating pressure on shareholder value. In response, senior executives and the founding partners have materially increased their personal share purchases, a signaling mechanism often deployed to demonstrate confidence in the firm's long-term trajectory during periods of market volatility.
Beyond the family office restructuring, the three founding partners—Wietlisbach, Alfred Gantner, and Marcel Erni, who originally met while employed at Goldman Sachs—are simultaneously negotiating a revised shareholder agreement. This agreement is intended to establish clearer protocols for future decision-making across their collective and individual holdings, further formalizing governance structures that have evolved organically over the past thirteen years as their respective business and personal wealth management complexities have expanded.
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