Invest Europe
Foundation in Private Equity Fund Investing
Foundation courses
Live online classroom
•
06-08 May 2026
The training discusses best practices in PE & VC fund investing, including the functioning and legal framework of PE funds, asset allocation strategies, fund selection & due diligence, fund monitoring, and risk & liquidity management.
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What is it?
The training discusses best practices in PE & VC fund investing, including:
Introduction to private markets investing: strategies & instruments
Private equity funds: functioning of funds, fund managers and the ecosystem
Who are fund investors and how do they think? Sources of capital and constraints
Asset allocation and private markets – setting up a program adapted to the constraints
Fund selection & due diligence
Fund monitoring: compliance, investor protection, risk, and liquidity management
Legal framework: focus on EU legal structures and regulations (AIFMD)
Interactive workshops on PE fund investment and LPA negotiation
Why should you attend?
Participants will acquire practical knowledge from industry experts, develop their skills and gain confidence as an investor in private equity and venture capital funds. The interactive workshops will provide you with the opportunity to discuss investing with peers from all over Europe.
Who should attend?
The training is designed for junior investors/LPs, as well as professionals who are considering investing in the PE & VC asset class.
Venue
Programme
Speakers
Fees, method of payment and cancellation
Language
The course will take place online.
Wednesday, 6 May
14:00 – 14:20 (CET) Introduction, course outline & objectives
14:20 – 15:30 (CET) Session 1: Introduction
Challenges: Why is private markets investing so difficult?
Private markets: Private equity, private debt, private real assets?
Strategies and instruments
The private equity value chain
Levels of intermediation: direct/co-investment, funds-of-funds
Focus on funds of funds and mandates
15:30 – 15:40 Networking Coffee Break
15:40 – 17:00 (CET) Session 2: Private market funds: functioning
Funds, fund managers and ecosystem
Functioning of a fund
Specificities: capital deployment, dry powder, J-curve
Functioning of a fund manager
Economics and standard terms
Fund waterfall
Thursday, 7 May
9:00 – 10:20 (CET) Session 3: The three dimensions of private markets investing
Liquidity: measurement and constraints
Returns: measurement (IRR, MOIC, PME), comparison, dynamics
Risks and costs: measurements and limits
Benchmarking: data sources and quartiles
Current debates: lines of credit, cost of unused capital
10:20 – 10:40 (CET) Coffee Break
10:40 – 12:00 (CET) Session 4: Who are fund investors and how do they think?
Typology of investors and their priorities
Sources of capital and constraints
How do investors think?
What do investors want?
Aligning interests
Competition: What do managers look for in an investor?
Current debates: number of fund relationships, one-stop shops
12:00 – 13:30 (CET) Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:30 (CET) Session 5: Asset Allocation and Private Markets
Private markets: volumes, evolution, regions and strategies
Setting up a program adapted to the constraints
Setting up a portfolio
Top-down and bottom-up approaches
Illustration through different portfolios
Current debates: Numerator and denominator effects
14:30 – 14:45 (CET) Coffee break
14:45 – 16:00 (CET) Session 6: Interactive workshop 1: Investing in PE – a case study
Friday, 8 May
9:00 – 10:20 (CET) Session 7: Fund selection and monitoring 1
Selecting funds: Due diligence (what and how?)
Things to know (persistence of return) and traps to avoid
Special cases: Emerging managers, secondaries, co-investments, GP-
Lead, Preferred equity…
Documents: PPM, LPA, data room, side letters…
10:20 – 10:40 (CET) Coffee Break
10:40 – 12:00 (CET) Session 7: Fund selection and monitoring 2
Governance: AGM, LPAC, MFN, divorce clauses
Challenges: adverse selection, contagion, and lack of alignment of interest
Fund monitoring: compliance, investor protection, operational risk
Risk and liquidity management
12:00 – 13:30 (CET) Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:00 (CET) Session 8: Legal framework
The fund: LP, RAIF, SICAV, SCSp, SPAC, BDC…with a focus on the LP
The fund investor: status, responsibilities
The fund manager: statutes, responsibilities
EU and non-EU environments
Focus on EU and AIFMD
Other regulations
ESG
15:00 – 15:10 (CET) Coffee Break
15:10 – 16:00 (CET) Session 9: Interactive workshop 2 – Negotiations of a Limited Partnership Agreement
To view the speaker profiles, please click here.
Course Fee:
Invest Europe Members: €1,230
Non-members: €1,750
*21% VAT will be added to Belgium-based participants.
The above prices include all material related to the training.
Payment:
Participants are requested to pay by bank transfer or credit card. Registrations sent after 6 April 2026 should be paid by credit card.
To avoid any confusion, participants are requested to indicate clearly their names and addresses on transfer orders. Confirmation of registration and practical information will be sent after the registration is processed.
Cancellation:
Cancellations can only be accepted if received by 6 April 2026. Fees (less 20% administrative charges) will then be refunded. After this date, delegates will be liable for the full fee.
In case of cancellation, a substitution between members of the same company is still possible at any time.
The working language of the course will be English.
