We hope you had an enjoyable summer. The macroeconomic picture remained balanced, with strong public markets set against continued uncertainty on inflation and rates, and a new Prime Minister in the UK.
Many mid-year private equity reports we read over the summer characterised H1 2026 as being a stable and encouraging period for transaction activity, after a slower few years. This is in keeping with our experience – year-to-date ICGT has seen more of our largest companies exited (namely Curium and Yudo), following on from a realisation rate last year of 25%, and we have good visibility of further exits. Greater cash returned gives ICGT the flexibility to reinvest, fund buybacks and pay dividends.
The second trend is greater selectivity on deployment. For example, EY’s report commented that “we’re seeing sponsors prioritise resilience alongside growth… Businesses with durable demand, strong pricing power and clear operational value creation opportunities.” That emphasis on resilient companies remains our approach at ICG Enterprise Trust. The pipeline for these investments remains strong. Investment Committees have continued over the summer – we are continuing to prioritise mid-market strategies with established managers, while remaining highly selective on co-investments. The co-investments we have made this year have been in healthcare and consumer, benefiting from structural growth trends.
So what’s the read-across for ICGT shareholders? We believe disciplined investment selection and exposure to mature, profitable companies remain increasingly important. And as we discussed in July’s newsletter, we believe these characteristics can support strong long-term risk-adjusted returns.
Finally, we wanted to share two additional bits of ICGT coverage you may have missed over the summer:
We featured in The Times’ Tempus column in August, which placed a ‘buy’ recommendation on ICGT. You can read the article here (subscription required).
I (Colm) spoke to QuotedData’s Gavin Lumsden in July, discussing transaction activity, AI opportunities and threats, and outlook for the sector. You can watch the episode here, or embedded below.
We look forward to speaking with you more over the coming months.
Oliver and Colm
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.
Unsure of some of these terms? See our Glossary.
Subscribe to our newsletters
Sign up for Regulatory News updates: click here
Authors
Back