AGM Unscripted: Goldman Sachs' Michael Bruun - Driving Value in Private Equity Through Network and Innovation

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

The Goldman Sachs Alternatives Summit “convened leaders across finance, geopolitics, technology, and culture” to discuss themes driving global markets.

2025’s Alternatives Summit was about “navigating a world in flux,” as the firm’s recap of its event noted. 

The event aimed to help investors cut through the noise and put together the pieces of the puzzle in a dynamic and increasingly complex world. 

Alt Goes Mainstream joined the event to have unscripted conversations with Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders to cut through the noise by unpacking key themes and trends at the intersection of private markets and private wealth.

In this special series, we went behind the scenes and interviewed six Goldman Sachs Alternatives leaders about their current thinking on private markets and how the firm has built and evolved its private markets capabilities.

This conversation was with Michael Bruun, Global Co-Head of Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. 

He is a member of the Goldman Sachs Asset Management International Management Committee, Asset Management (AM) Private Equity Investment Committee, AM Growth Equity Investment Committee, AM Sustainable Investing Investment Committee, Asset & Wealth Management Inclusion and Diversity Council and is a member of the Goldman Sachs Firmwide Client Franchise Committee. In 2021, Michael was named Head of EMEA Private Equity within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and from 2019 to 2021, he was Head of Private Equity and Growth Equity investing for India. Michael joined the Merchant Banking Division in 2010 and worked in London and New York. Prior to that, he was a member of the Nordic Mergers & Acquisitions team in the Investment Banking Division (IBD), after initially joining IBD in 2005. Michael joined Goldman Sachs as an Analyst in the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division in 2004. He was named Managing Director in 2013 and partner in 2016. Michael serves on the boards of Advania, Kahoot!, LRQA, Norgine, Synthon and Trackunit. He is a founding partner of the Human Practice Foundation in Denmark and a trustee in the UK. Michael earned a BA in Economics from the University of Copenhagen.

Michael and I had a fascinating conversation about private equity, today’s investing environment, the hardest part about investing today, and how product innovation is impacting private equity’s market structure. We discussed:

• How investors can approach allocating to private equity today.
• The toolkit required to generate returns in private equity.
• The importance of network and operating partners in value creation.
• How new product innovation and new structures like evergreens and continuation vehicles are changing growth equity and private equity. 
• The importance of understanding macro in a new world order of geopolitics and a new world order of investing.
• The skillsets that investors need to have to be a good investor in today’s investing environment.
• The hardest part about investing today. 

Thanks Michael for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private equity.

Show Notes
00:56 Welcome to the Alt Goes Mainstream Podcast

02:04 Michael Bruun's Background and Career

02:31 Evolution of Private Equity

03:14 Impact of Market Changes on Private Equity

03:43 Operational Value Creation

04:50 Importance of Value Creation Resources

05:33 Driving EBITDA Growth

06:04 Goldman's Value Acceleration Resources

07:18 Focus on Data and AI

08:27 AI in Different Sectors

11:22 Goldman's Investment Strategy

14:28 Scale and Capital in Private Equity

15:40 Co-Investments and Evergreen Vehicles

18:11 Flexibility in Private Markets

23:53 Navigating Volatility

24:59 Post-Investment Operations

25:23 Goldman Sachs Engineering

26:05 Future of Private Equity

27:39 CEO AI Academy

28:01 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant.