Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital

Private Capital Symposium at LBS

The 2023 symposium took place on the 16-17 May. Please see more details further down the page. Register your interest for next year's event and we will notify you when ticket sales open so you can secure your early bird ticket.

About

We are proud to offer a global forum for debate. Here, academics and practitioners from around the world strengthen ties, exchange and debate academic findings and current industry topics.

Our annual Private Capital Symposium is a cornerstone of this remit. The symposium brings together influential industry experts and academic thought leaders for two days of inspiring, thought-provoking, open and lively debate.

The first day of the symposium is aimed at practitioners while the second day is for academics only.

Past topics have ranged from the technical aspects of deal origination, to discussions on social impact investing and the use of artificial intelligence in investment decisions.

The scientific committee comprise:

Luisa Alemany, Associate Professor of Management Practice at London Business School and Academic Director IEPC
Gary Dushnitsky, Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School
Victoria Ivashina, Lovett-Learned Chaired Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Unit at Harvard Business School
Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School
Ramana Nanda, Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance at Imperial Business School
Ilya A. Strebulaev, The David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity & Finance, Founder & Director, Venture Capital Initiative, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
Florin Vasvari, Professor of Accounting, Chair, Accounting Faculty; Academic Director IEPC
Michael S. Weisbach, Ralph W. Kurtz Chair in Finance at Ohio State University.

Resources from previous events

What can you expect from the Private Capital Symposium at LBS? Explore the line-up of key-note speakers from previous years who we partnered with and what was discussed.

Private Capital Symposium 2023

Opportunities for private capital in challenging times

16-17 May 2023, London, UK

The symposium covered the latest trends and developments in private debt, family office partnerships, democratization of private equity investments, venture capital, and technology investing.
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Private Capital Symposium 2022

In the 2022 symposium we covered trending topics in private equity and venture capital. These included impact investing, PE in emerging markets, fundraising innovations in private markets, opening private markets to individual investors, VC investing and corporate VC.
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Private Equity Symposium 2019

The Impact of Private Equity on our Future

27-28 June 2019, London, UK

As the global private equity industry grows in importance relative to public markets, our 2019 symposium focused on recent shifts in capital flow across sectors and stages and the increasing use of sophisticated technology in supporting investment decisions. We delivered this event with partners Harvard Business School and The Wharton School.
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Private Equity Symposium 2018

The Future of Private Equity: Opportunities and Challenges

24-25 May 2018, London, UK

Hosted in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, day one of our 2018 private equity symposium explored the future of private equity and the growth of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing in the sector. Day two put the spotlight on venture capital contracts and loans and alternative investment vehicles used in private capital.
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Private Equity Symposium 2017

Private Equity in the US and Europe: Innovation and Disruption

29-30 June 2017, London, UK

A year after the UK’s shock vote to leave the EU, our flagship event for the global private equity and venture capital industry put the spotlight on the risks and opportunities facing private investors in two of the world’s biggest markets. Sanjay Patel, Head of Europe, Apollo Management International, and Hanneke Smits, CEO, Newton Investment Management, joined a stellar line-up of practitioners and leading academics to debate and discuss a range of topics at the 2017 event in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.
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Private Equity Symposium 2016

Searching for needles in a haystack: finding value in a crowded market

7-8 June 2016, London, UK

Our 2016 flagship event featured the world’s biggest names in private equity, investment buyouts, deal origination and valuations. Hosted in partnership with global business advisory firm and restructuring specialists AlixPartners, it focused on how to find pockets of opportunity, access financial returns and create value for PE investors in a difficult macro economic environment.
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Sponsorship

If you are interested in sponsoring the Private Capital Symposium please email iepc@london.edu.

Interviews with guest speakers

Corporate Venture Capital: In conversation with Ilya A Strebulaev

Professor Ilya A Strebulaev shares insights about his research on Corporate Venture Capital in conversation with Gary Dushnitsky at the Private Capital Symposium 2022 hosted by the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital at LBS.

Venture Capital Investing: In conversation with Ramana Nanda

Are venture capitalists just good at picking companies that will ultimately be successful? Or do they actually help them become successful through their value-added work.