Mosaic, Not Monolith: Why No One Can Actually Buy the Private Markets Benchmark - Andrea Auerbach - Global Head of Private Investments at Cambridge Associates

Brandon Sedloff speaks with Andrea Auerbach of Cambridge Associates at the IPEM Private Markets Conference about how private markets have evolved from simple buyout strategies into a fragmented ecosystem of thousands of specialized managers. They discuss allocator alpha, manager due diligence, benchmark limitations, illiquidity, evergreen and semi-liquid structures, and lower-middle-market and independent sponsor opportunities.

1. Headline private markets benchmarks do not reflect anyone's actual portfolio performance.
2. Sector-focused investing and growth equity strategies are described as creating allocator alpha through information and relationship asymmetry.
3. Manager due diligence includes behavioral tells, such as how teams handle underperforming assets and how they treat receptionists.
4. Evergreen and semi-liquid fund structures are reshaping capital deployment and creating new risks around shared assets and pricing pressure.