The EDHEC Infrastructure and Private Assets Research Institute’s annual Advisory Board Meeting will be taking place in Singapore on 26 June, 2025 at 9.00 am SGT.

The meeting will include presentations and discussions aimed at shaping the Institute’s strategic direction.

Our core mission remains unchanged: aligning with EDHEC Business School’s goal to “Make an Impact” in private markets. We aim to enhance transparency in valuation practices, risk assessment, and alpha measurement in private markets by employing rigorous scientific methods. The Advisory Board members’ contributions will be critical to validating and directing this important research.

This year’s agenda will cover the following topics:

Morning Session:

• Review and summarise the Institute’s achievements under the current MAS grant ending in 2025. Board members will have the opportunity to see the successful conclusion of our partnership and the extensive body of research it has created.

Afternoon Session:

• Discuss current private valuation practices amid increasing scrutiny from global regulatory agencies, identifying key areas for improvement in market practices.
• Examine common risk factors driving private asset returns and discuss their implications for portfolio construction strategies.
• These strategic discussions will help ensure our research aligns closely with industry needs and significantly advances private market investment practices.

The meeting will be hosted at EDHEC Business School Offices, One George St #15-02, Singapore.

Registration is reserved for EDHEC Infrastructure & Private Assets Research Institute Advisory Board members only.

EDHEC Infrastructure and Private Assets Day 2025 will take place on 9 December in London, bringing together leading academics and industry experts to share the latest research and insights on unlisted assets.

The event offers a unique opportunity to deepen understanding of private markets, explore cutting-edge methodologies, and discuss their implications for portfolio construction and risk management.

The intellectually rigorous programme, designed to advance both theory and practice in private asset investment, will include the following themes:

Private Asset Valuations – Why They Matter

• Beyond compliance: valuations drive asset understanding and allocation
• Critical for all investor types: DC & DB pension funds, insurers, sovereign wealth funds
• Ensure transparency, comparability, and better decision-making
• Link portfolio strategy to reality through timely valuations
• Mitigate risk by reducing information gaps and valuation lags
• Support trust and accountability with stakeholders
• Practical takeaways: why staying current is essential and how investors benefit

Term Structure of Risk in Private Assets

• Understand how risk evolves with time in private markets — and why horizons change everything
• Learn why short-term volatility can mislead, and what longer horizons reveal about stability
• See how horizon-dependent risk shapes portfolio design and asset allocation decisions
• Discover why fees, illiquidity, and risk aversion matter more for private assets than for listed markets
• Gain tools to explain private market risks and returns clearly to boards, clients, and stakeholders

Private Asset Secondaries, What to Watch For

• Why secondaries are reshaping private markets
• The risks and opportunities driving today’s deals
• What investors need to know before stepping in

Moving the Goalposts or Better Measurement?
How North American pensions design, tweak, and sometimes reset their benchmarks — and what that means for investors

• Spot the benchmark type: policy portfolio vs. reference portfolio vs. asset-class benchmarks (PE/infra/real estate)
• Read the signals: how and why benchmarks change (ALM cycles, risk tolerance, transparency drives) vs. changes that look like underperformance cover
• Diagnose incentives: how benchmark design affects manager behaviour, fees, reported “value-add,” and governance

Market Pricing of Risk in Private Equities: Evidence from Factor Models

• Systematic differences in average pricing of observed transactions by risk factors
• What discount rates (expected returns) do transactions imply? Is there an illiquidity premium?
• Can a simple factor model explain private equity prices?
• How can bid-ask spreads capture valuation uncertainty?
• What portion of prices is systematic vs. idiosyncratic?

View the full programme.

Secure your place now below!