🎥 AGM Unscripted: Goldman Sachs' Michael Bruun - Driving Value in Private Equity Through Network and Innovation

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast. The Goldman Sachs Alternatives Summit “convened leaders across finance, geopolitics, technology, and culture” to discuss themes driving global markets. 2025’s Alternatives Summit was about “navigating a world in flux,” as the firm’s recap of its event noted. The event aimed to help investors cut through the noise and put together the pieces of the puzzle in a dynamic and increasingly complex world. Alt Goes Mainstream joined the event to have unscripted conversations with Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders to cut through the noise by unpacking key themes and trends at the intersection of private markets and private wealth. In this special series, we went behind the scenes and interviewed six Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders about their current thinking on private markets and how the firm has built and evolved its private markets capabilities. This conversation was with Michael Bruun, Partner, Global Co-Head of Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. He is a member of the Goldman Sachs Asset Management International Management Committee, Asset Management (AM) Private Equity Investment Committee, AM Growth Equity Investment Committee, AM Sustainable Investing Investment Committee, Asset & Wealth Management Inclusion and Diversity Council and is a member of the Goldman Sachs Firmwide Client Franchise Committee. In 2021, Michael was named Head of EMEA Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and from 2019 to 2021, he was Head of Private Equity and Growth Equity investing for India. Michael joined the Merchant Banking Division in 2010 and worked in London and New York. Prior to that, he was a member of the Nordic Mergers & Acquisitions team in the Investment Banking Division (IBD), after initially joining IBD in 2005. Michael joined Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division in 2004. He was named Managing Director in 2013 and partner in 2016. Michael serves on the boards of Advania, Kahoot!, LRQA, Norgine, Synthon and Trackunit. He is a founding partner of the Human Practice Foundation in Denmark and a trustee in the UK. Michael earned a BA in Economics from the University of Copenhagen. Michael and I had a fascinating conversation about private equity, today’s investing environment, the hardest part about investing today, and how product innovation is impacting private equity’s market structure. We discussed: How investors can approach allocating to private equity today. The toolkit required to generate returns in private equity today. The importance of network and operating partners in value creation. How new product innovation and new structures like evergreens and continuation vehicles are changing growth equity and private equity. The importance of understanding macro in a new world order of geopolitics and a new world order of investing. The skillsets that investors need to have to be a good investor in today’s investing environment. The hardest part about investing today. Thanks Michael for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private equity. Show Notes 00:57 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast 01:12 Introducing Michael Bruun 01:51 Michael’s Career Journey 02:20 Evolution of Private Equity 02:50 Impact of Market Changes on Returns 03:35 Operational Value Creation 04:20 Importance of Value Creation Resources 05:06 Driving EBITDA Growth 05:58 Segments of Value Acceleration 07:13 Focus on Data and AI 08:31 AI in Different Market Segments 11:38 Goldman Sachs’ Broader Platform 12:13 Network and Insights at Goldman Sachs 14:46 Importance of Scale in Private Equity 16:00 Co-Investments and Evergreen Vehicles 18:33 Flexibility in Private Markets 19:50 Allocating to Private Equity Today 20:28 Differentiation Through Resources 24:27 Navigating Volatility 25:35 Post-Investment Operations 26:00 Goldman Sachs Engineering 26:56 Excitement for the Future of Private Equity 28:21 CEO AI Academy 28:46 Conclusion and Wrap-Up Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit altgoesmainstream.substack.com