This 2026 edition of IPEM Wealth confirmed a trend that is now well underway: the arrival of new private equity investors is now a reality for the entire ecosystem.
The discussions at Cannes obviously focused on the changing investor landscape. Family offices, private banks and high net worth individuals are playing an increasingly important role alongside institutional investors, with different expectations and specific regulatory constraints. These developments are changing distribution models, encouraging the development of evergreen and semi-liquid funds, and reinforcing the need for transparency in the presentation of strategies.
This opening up to new audiences is changing the very nature of investor relations. GPs must now address profiles with heterogeneous expectations, navigate through distinct regulatory frameworks, without losing the relationship built up with historical institutional investors.
The challenge is not to simplify the discourse, but to make it readable, to contextualise the creation of value and to explain sometimes complex strategies without distorting them.
The discussions also showed that the brand has a direct influence on allocation decisions. In private banking, almost two-thirds of private banks now consider a manager's credibility to be a decisive criterion, sometimes ahead of performance, reinforcing the importance of recognition, consistency and clear practices.
A new challenge is emerging: supporting these changes, speaking to multiple audiences, integrating the constraints specific to private distribution and ensuring the necessary educational work, without diluting the message or weakening the relationship with long-term LPs.
We are already working with a number of players present at IPEM Wealth in Cannes and throughout the year on these issues: structuring messages, brand positioning, teaching strategies and vehicles, and linking institutional communications with communications aimed at private investors.
This edition is a reminder that, in a more open and more exposed market, the quality of information, the consistency of messages and investor relations are now an integral part of performance.
Delia Khedim
PR Consultant, Asset Management