Partners Group: AUM Falls Below Expectations; Strategic Moves Signal Growth Ahead

Narrow-moat Partners Group ended 2024 with assets under management, or AUM, below expectations and its own guidance, reaching USD 152 billion, a modest 4% year-over-year increase. Despite this transitional year, the company expects a rebound in dealmaking and anticipates adding USD 22 billion-USD 27 billion of AUM in 2025, offset by USD 9 billion-USD 10 billion in tail-downs from maturing mandates. Given expectations for a more active market in 2025, we view Partners Group's guidance as reasonable, though we await the publication of full financial statements to confirm our outlook. We keep our fair value estimate of CHF 1,240 per share unchanged.