Key Takeaways
- • PEI Group's 2025 Women of Influence list recognizes leading female executives across private markets, including specialists in private equity, real estate, infrastructure, private credit, and venture capital.
- • Pantheon CEO Kathryn Leaf has been named to the 2025 Women of Influence in Private Markets list for cross-asset class leadership.
- • Notable honorees include executives from major alternative asset managers such as Actis and Schroders, reflecting institutional recognition of women's leadership across diversified investment platforms.
- • Tikehau Capital's private debt operations, representing approximately 50% of the firm's €23 billion in assets under management, underscore the substantial capital deployment by female-led teams in alternative credit strategies.
- • The annual recognition program, now in its fifth year, highlights women whose strategic direction is shaping the evolution of alternative asset management across multiple disciplines.
Summary
PEI Group's 2025 Women of Influence in Private Markets list celebrates accomplished female leaders whose expertise and strategic influence span the breadth of alternative asset management. The recognition program, now in its fifth year, identifies trailblazing executives whose leadership is reshaping private equity, real estate, infrastructure, private credit, and venture capital sectors.
Key figures recognized on the 2025 list include Kathryn Leaf, CEO of Pantheon, acknowledged for cross-asset class leadership; Cecile Retaureau from Actis and executives at Schroders, reflecting the concentration of female leadership at established institutional asset managers. The nominations process, which concluded on May 20, 2025, reflects rigorous editorial vetting by PEI Group's editorial teams across multiple asset class specializations.
The list underscores material capital deployment by women-led teams across alternative markets. Tikehau Capital, whose private debt operations represent nearly 50% of the firm's €23 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025, exemplifies the scale of capital these executives manage. Professional expertise spans private equity, private debt, real estate, and infrastructure—the core alternative asset classes driving institutional capital flows.
The Women of Influence initiative extends beyond recognition to industry-wide professional development. PEI Group hosts the Women in Private Markets Summit North America 2026, positioning the most senior gathering of women transforming private markets as a platform for strategic dialogue and knowledge exchange among institutional investors, asset managers, and capital allocators.
Key figures recognized on the 2025 list include Kathryn Leaf, CEO of Pantheon, acknowledged for cross-asset class leadership; Cecile Retaureau from Actis and executives at Schroders, reflecting the concentration of female leadership at established institutional asset managers. The nominations process, which concluded on May 20, 2025, reflects rigorous editorial vetting by PEI Group's editorial teams across multiple asset class specializations.
The list underscores material capital deployment by women-led teams across alternative markets. Tikehau Capital, whose private debt operations represent nearly 50% of the firm's €23 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025, exemplifies the scale of capital these executives manage. Professional expertise spans private equity, private debt, real estate, and infrastructure—the core alternative asset classes driving institutional capital flows.
The Women of Influence initiative extends beyond recognition to industry-wide professional development. PEI Group hosts the Women in Private Markets Summit North America 2026, positioning the most senior gathering of women transforming private markets as a platform for strategic dialogue and knowledge exchange among institutional investors, asset managers, and capital allocators.
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