Europe, AI and Deal Exits: An EQT Guide to 2026

Q: What is the biggest challenge or opportunity that’s overlooked in your sector?

Magnus Tornling: In ECM, I believe an underappreciated opportunity lies in building long-lasting, trust-based relationships with public market investors. For IPOs and sell-downs tied to sponsors, the win-win has to go both ways: issuers need pricing and execution, but investors need credible business models, transparent governance, realistic valuations, and aftermarket performance they can believe in. When investors feel they get value and are not routinely disappointed post-IPO, that creates a virtuous cycle: more willing participation, tighter pricing, shorter deal cycles, more stable trading, and, ultimately, stronger ECM franchises.

Sueann Yeo: I think Europe presents a distinct and compelling opportunity that remains underappreciated. The region is undergoing a period of quiet reinvention — supported by deep industrial expertise, strong corporate balance sheets, and a growing pipeline of innovation-led companies. In particular, European healthcare is emerging as a powerful investment theme: a sector underpinned by aging populations, world-class research, and increasing demand for quality care and medical technologies.

Clara Ho: I see an important opportunity lies in the rise of tech innovations in China, where government-backed initiatives in AI, Medtech and electric vehicles are accelerating the formation of homegrown champions. For instance, China is home to 47 percent of top AI researchers globally and is targeting a $1.4tn AI ecosystem by 2030. The country's leadership in EVs - with over 70 percent of global production and 40 percent of global exports - also demonstrates how policy alignment and industrial depth can jointly deliver a compelling right-to-win.

Janice Leow: I think that longevity and an aging population are underappreciated. It seems to be an inexorable trend, especially in some Asian countries. This has both challenges, such as a shrinking workforce, as well as opportunities presented by a silver generation that has greater spending power than any comparable generation before them.

Peter Beske Nielsen: How do we make private market investments available for the broader pension market? We have seen big headlines from the U.S. in relation to the 401(k) market, and also in the European Union, where there is a desire to help individual pension savers access private markets. I believe the size of the individual pension market is a massive opportunity, but providing access to individuals’ savings accounts, both from a legal and educational point of view, remains a significant challenge.

Alex Darden: For me, the regulatory and political environment is the biggest challenge in the infrastructure sector. Infrastructure involves large, long-term investments that benefit from a stable political environment. The U.S. is driving uncertainty with inconsistent decisions regarding renewables, coal and hydrocarbons, unilateral tariff and trade policies and immigration controls. Other countries are creating their own regulatory challenges, such as limiting inflation pass-through mechanisms in regulated industries. Despite all this power, water, transportation, digital connectivity and other infrastructure still need to be built. So the challenges can be overcome, but often require additional time, diligence, capital intensity and risk premiums.

Q: What theme do you think will dominate the private markets narrative in 2026?

Sueann Yeo: The defining theme will be a return to conviction – where investors focus more on long-term, fundamentals-based opportunities. After several years of volatility and recalibration, we’re seeing a renewed appetite for private markets, but with sharper selectivity and deeper sector understanding. This means looking beyond broad market cycles to identify where structural value is being created, such as in European healthcare. At the same time, strong equity markets are fueling exits and, in turn, distributions. Finally, as more private investors enter the space, the ability to articulate clear value creation stories – and to connect performance with purpose – will define successful relationships.

Alex Darden: Growth will be the biggest theme in infrastructure in 2026 and for years to come. Whether it is the continuing AI ecosystem buildout, the conversion of the energy system to support more electrification, the drive to create a more circular economy, or the evolving logistics systems worldwide, the one constant is the massive investment needed across the infrastructure sector.

Janice Leow: Exits, exits and exits. Everyone knows that the priority for our industry is to return capital to investors. EQT has done relatively well in 2025 with several good exits, and our teams will remain laser-focused on making as many successful exits as possible to continue differentiating EQT in what looks like a very crowded industry wide fundraising environment in 2026.

Clara Ho: One key theme will be capturing and harnessing AI megatrends -- both as an investment theme and as a transformative force for value creation. By early 2025, more than 50 percent of S&P 500 companies were explicitly referencing AI in earnings calls while technology firms were ramping up spending on LLMs. This paradigm shift has allowed AI-native champions to scale at unprecedented rates. For private markets, this translates into a dual imperative: investors will increasingly target AI-native disruptors to achieve outsized returns while leveraging AI to drive efficiencies in portfolio companies – whether in sales productivity, operational resilience or compliance automation.

Peter Beske Nielsen: Individual investors are starting to realize how much money is required to cover investment needs in infrastructure, especially digital infrastructure, including data centers. Infrastructure will remain a dominant theme in 2026 and beyond, to be honest.