Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast
The last time Karen Harris, managing director of Bain’s Macro Trends Group, appeared on Dry Powder, she unpacked a remarkable convergence of macro risks. If you missed those episodes in early September, I highly recommend you go back and listen, and if you have heard those episodes, you’re about to get a timely update.
You can listen to this episode of Dry Powder and catch future episodes by subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you may listen.
Karen has just returned from Davos, where business leaders were grappling with a more fractured global economy and a plethora of risks. Despite it all, many saw reason for optimism.
“The consensus shifted towards a soft landing,” Karen told me on the most recent episode of Dry Powder. “We heard it behind closed doors, we heard it out in the open, and that’s certainly possible.”
But she cautions that we’re not out of the woods yet. “I just think it would be a mistake to anchor around a specific scenario given the complexity of the situation.”
Today on the show, Karen and I discuss her key insights from behind the scenes at Davos and why it might be premature to base your investment strategy on a soft landing. We also discuss how private equity investors are dealing with the emergent risks and opportunities of a multipolar world and the expanding role of the state in the marketplace.
The Private Equity Podcast
In our podcast series, Bain's Hugh MacArthur interviews leading experts on the trends and opportunities that will redefine the private equity industry.
First published in febbraio 2023