Urs Wietlisbach on Building a USD 185B Private Markets Firm

In this episode, GloryHouse Wealth Management Managing Director speaks with Urs Wietlisbach, Co-Founder of Partners Group, for an in-depth conversation on private markets, long-term capital, asset allocation, and wealth management for entrepreneurs.

Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, Partners Group is one of the world’s leading private markets investment managers, with expertise across private equity, private debt, infrastructure, real estate, and royalties. As of early 2026, Partners Group managed approximately USD 185 billion in assets.

Urs reflects on the early journey of Partners Group — from three founders leaving Goldman Sachs to establish an independent asset management firm, to building a global investment platform with more than 2,000 employees today. He shares how the firm has continued to innovate through differentiated thinking, including the early development of capital-protected private equity products, evergreen fund structures, customised institutional accounts, and a publicly listed company structure.

The conversation also explores asset resilience and risk management in today’s market environment. Urs discusses the role of private markets in long-term asset allocation, with particular focus on non-correlated asset classes such as insurance finance, litigation finance, and royalties, and how they may perform through periods of market volatility, changing interest rates, and inflation.

In the face of structural change driven by artificial intelligence, Urs encourages investors to recognise AI’s long-term impact on corporate competitiveness while remaining mindful of potential valuation bubbles in public markets. He emphasises that, for first-generation entrepreneurs and high-net-worth families, long-term wealth management is not only about growth, but also about building a genuinely diversified and resilient portfolio that can endure across market cycles.

Episode Highlights

• The story of Partners Group’s growth from a three-person founding team to a global private markets platform
• The culture of innovation behind “Built Differently to Build Differently”
• The role of private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and royalties in asset allocation
• How non-correlated assets can support portfolio resilience through market volatility
• How entrepreneurs and high-net-worth families should approach long-term wealth management in the AI era
• Urs Wietlisbach’s perspective on protecting and growing wealth over the next 50 years