Short-seller to blame for sharp share price decline, says Partners Group co-founder

Partners Group co-founder Alfred Gantner has publicly dismissed allegations from short-seller Grizzly Research, attributing the firm's sharp share price decline to misinformation and broader sector concerns rather than company-specific issues. In an interview with Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung, Gantner characterized Grizzly's claims as "demonstrably unfounded" and argued that recent market moves reflect a wider reassessment of listed private markets firms across the alternatives sector. According to Bloomberg, Gantner contended that retail investors bore the brunt of market losses while short-sellers stood to benefit from the resulting volatility.

The underlying catalyst for increased scrutiny involves redemption pressure within Partners Group's evergreen investment vehicles. The Swiss alternative asset manager recently disclosed a rise in withdrawal requests from retail and private wealth clients in these semi-liquid structures, prompting the introduction of liquidity management measures that may include gating mechanisms across selected funds. This development underscores the operational complexity of evergreen funds, which have expanded rapidly across the alternatives industry as firms sought to broaden investor access to private equity and credit strategies.

Gantner positioned the recent decline as symptomatic of broader sector dynamics rather than fundamental deterioration in Partners Group's underlying portfolio or business model. The stock has declined significantly since the start of 2026, consistent with sector-wide pressure affecting listed alternatives managers. The episode has intensified investor scrutiny of liquidity management practices within semi-liquid private markets structures, raising questions about redemption handling and capital preservation in evergreen vehicles during periods of heightened withdrawal activity.