Partners Group, the private markets group based in Zug, saw its performance fees drop 78 percent last year, impacting revenues and profit, according to annual results released Tuesday.

Revenues fell 29 percent, mainly due to performance fees dropping to 269 million Swiss francs from 1.197 billion the year before. That led to a commensurate fall in profits of 31 percent to 1.005 billion from 1.464 billion the previous year. The firm attributed the decline to two factors.

It said that in 2021, select realizations originally planned for 2022 were brought forward because value creation targets were met and exit conditions were particularly favorable.  Also, planned realizations of several mature businesses and assets were postponed in 2022 given the changing market environment. 

Assets Under Management

Assets under management increased to 135 billion last year from 127 billion the year before, as already reported. 

Despite lower profit, Partners Group is proposing a 12 percent increase in its dividend to 37 francs on what it says is based on the solid development of the business and its confidence in the sustainability of the firm's growth. The dividend amounts to a 95 percent payout ratio. 

It also reaffirmed guidance for gross client demand between $17 to $22 billion. Performance fees for full-year 2023 are expected to return to their mid- to a long-term range of 20 percent to 30 percent of total revenues, picking up in the second half. The guidance is based on the assumption that financing markets stabilize sufficiently during the first half to promote a more benign exit environment and gradually lead to a normalization of exits in the latter half of the year. 

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