Conference Presentation, Panel
Beyond Capital: How Long-Term Investors are Creating Value | Global Dialogues Toronto 2026
Milken InstituteAmber Kanwar, Bruce Heyman, Jenny Johnson, Jack Neumark, John Porter, Tony, Tim, Heinz, Alan, Phil, Daniel Metzler
- Eldridge is deploying strategic investments across media, sports, entertainment, AI enterprise services, and the mining-focused business Asenco to strengthen its asset management business.
- A new minerals investment platform and advisory business is being launched to leverage deal flow and assist Asenco's clients in extracting minerals and rebuilding supply chains over the past four years.
- The organization considers the risk of inaction on AI greater than the risk of action, having opened internal data sources to AI models and encouraged 85% of its 450-person workforce to evolve their workflows.
- Current AI deployment costs remain under one million dollars year-to-date despite high user adoption, with future plans to potentially purchase compute directly to run open-source models for cost reduction.
- The insurance business targets returns exceeding its cost of capital, requiring a low teens return on equity and investment-grade assets while maintaining leverage at approximately six times liabilities to equity.
- The macroeconomic outlook anticipates a new normal with elevated base rates and cap rates, where value creation depends on micro efforts rather than the macro cap rate compression seen in the previous decade.
- Future investment returns are expected to rely on income growth driven by local teams operating across 400 cities, with no anticipated return to cap rate compression.
- Significant capital availability is forecasted for the next decade to fund growth, even though pockets of dislocation have emerged in interest rates over the last six weeks.
- Private credit markets are expected to return to equilibrium as the market flattens out, a shift described as healthy for all markets.
- Risks include potential capital deployment mistakes, specifically within sponsor-backed private credit where businesses may be overly encumbered by debt service in a post-AI disruption environment.
- Fundamental lending principles in leveraged loan markets have eroded over the last 10 years, creating a risk of conflict between lenders if positions are not secured.
- Momentum is expected for large infrastructure projects involving public-private partnerships, though there is a concern that funding for entrepreneurial and ambitious businesses may be overshadowed.
- Trade friction is viewed as a short-term risk that will ultimately help mid-to-long-term supply chains by shortening them and moving manufacturing closer to demand.
- Launch capacity in Nova Scotia is scheduled to come online in 2028 in partnership with Maritime Launch Services to meet demand for non-U.S. tethered launch capacity.
- A competitive threat exists from SpaceX, which holds $85 billion in assets and provides over 90% of current launch capacity, creating a challenging landscape for non-U.S. providers.