Best Practice

‘It’s unbelievable how well the industry performed for many years,’ Steve Kaplan tells a standing-room-only crowd at Private Funds CFO’s New York Forum.

As demands on the treasury role intensify, more and more private capital firms are carving out a dedicated group.

Those in DEI and impact investment had to get comfortable with the return of Donald Trump to the White House in 2025.

The year’s M&A market answered the pressures and volatility of the playing field with creativity and AI-tools, and look to the do the same in 2026, according to Colin Schopbach, Americas chief revenue officer at Datasite.

The population of zombie funds is huge, and likely growing. Detecting early warning signs is the key to value preservation.

In a rebounding biotech market, royalty finance can play a far more strategic role, provided it’s executed with disciplined underwriting, smart structuring and a genuine partnership with innovators, according to Ryan Murr a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.

In so many ways, CFOs are now the strategic leaders of a firm’s operations, and that means PE firms are investing more time in hiring, development and succession.

Crisis comms is a vital discipline given the reputational risks the industry faces today, and the best protocols remain simple, nimble and rooted in the truth.

CFOs looking to tap AI’s potential for the finance function should launch a series of experiments, with strict security protocols.