In part two of our interview series with the CEO of CVC, we explore how they’re navigating one of the toughest fundraising markets in decades, their firm-wide embrace of AI and why he considers Europe one of the world’s most compelling markets for generating alpha.

Looking Over the Horizon w/ CVC's Rob Lucas

Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast

[SPEAKER_00] Previously on Dry Powder, Rob Lucas, CEO of CVC, shared what mountaineering has taught him about investing, from building teams that perform under pressure to planning for the unexpected. Today on the show, we'll turn that lens toward the future of private equity. I'll ask Rob how CVC is navigating one of the toughest fundraising markets in decades and why performance and trust remain the bedrock of the LPGP model. We'll also discuss CVC's firm-wide embrace of AI.

[SPEAKER_01] I use it every day. I have a Monday morning meeting where we have all the investment teams across the globe on the call. I make it clear to everybody that we do monitor usage and we want everybody to be using it.

[SPEAKER_00] Finally, Rob will explain why he believes Europe remains one of the world's most compelling markets for generating buyout alpha.

[SPEAKER_01] It's the very complexity, it's the level of bureaucracy that mean that people look at the macro in a less positive way. Which actually plays so well to private equity. We can just bring so much to the show.

[SPEAKER_00] I'm Hugh MacArthur, Chairman of Bain's Global Private Equity Practice, and this is Dry Powder. Rob, let's shift gears and talk a little bit about the future. I'm often asked to comment on the future in my role, and I always protest that my crystal ball is very clouded. And I'm sure yours is much clearer than mine.

[SPEAKER_00] So I'd like to start by asking you how you're navigating the current fundraising environment, especially in the buyout world where things have been pretty tough over the last couple of years.

[SPEAKER_01] Yes. From a fundraising perspective, we have raised over 23 billion euros over the last 12 months to Q1 2026. Yeah.

Looking Over the Horizon w/ CVC's Rob Lucas

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

Looking Over the Horizon w/ CVC's Rob Lucas

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.