We had the pleasure to host approximately 250 investors last week in the Helsinki White Hall for Alternatives Afternoon 2025 – one of the largest LP-only private equity events in the Nordics.

Investors enjoyed the chance to hear insights on the private markets from several industry insiders.

Mr. Mario Giannini, Co-Executive Chairman at Hamilton Lane, guided us through the state and outlook of the private market ecosystem in a fireside chat moderated by Mr. Daniel Harima, Partner at AlterInvest.

Venture Capital and Growth Equity were the focus points of the second session, where Ms. Pauliina Martikainen, Partner at Maki.vc, Mr. Tom Henriksson, Partner at OpenOcean, and Mr. Miguel Luiña, Head of VC and Growth at Hamilton Lane discussed the latest trends and dynamics of these markets that are looking more prominent than ever in the current day.

‍Key takeaways

• AI and geopolitics: The global AI race is increasingly shaped by the United States and China, while Europe’s more restrictive regulatory environment – particularly around data access – risks constraining its competitiveness. Europe has already distinctly lost the LLM competition. Meaningful opportunities still exist at the application layer of the AI stack, where new products and business models are being built. Defence and dual use technologies are interesting areas, particularly in Europe.
• The case for VC: We are living through the largest technological transformation of our lifetimes. Valuations have reset from the 2020-2021 peak, company growth rates are at unprecedented levels, and the total addressable market is vast, extending beyond technology budgets into the much larger pool of personnel and operating spending.
• U.S. market positioning: Despite political uncertainty, the U.S. continues to offer the broadest set of high-quality investment opportunities globally for private market investors.
• Private vs. public markets: Long-term outperformance in private markets is less about leverage and more about better governance, value creation, and stronger alignment of interests between participants.
• Long-term perspective: After a few muted years in the private markets, returns and cash flows are slowly rebounding toward the long-term equilibrium. The U.S. remains the premier place to invest in private equity.

We warmly thank all the speakers for their time and valuable insights. Thank you also to all the participants, we hope you enjoyed your time with us and found the afternoon insightful!​