Some highlights on the event include: Mark Arbib, Former Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Small Business and Minister for Sport opening the Forum with a keynote speech. This was followed by Sebastiaan C. van den Berg of HarbourVest Partners (Asia) Limited, leading a panel discussion focusing on the outlook for the global private equity industry and the role Australasia plays.

Later in the morning John Haddock from Champ Private Equity moderated a session focusing on the opportunities in the Australasian mid-market and industries that have the most potential to provide growth in the medium to long term, before Andrew Thompson from KPMG led a debate featuring a host of international firms on how fund managers can position themselves and their portfolio companies to succeed.

This was followed by an entertaining and interesting lunchtime Q & A between James Fallows of the Atlantic Monthly and Joseph Skrzynski from Champ Private Equity. Straight after lunch Katherine Woodthorpe from the Australian Private Equity and Venture capital Association moderated an intriguing debate where experienced Australasian GPs and LPs discussed the numerous challenges currently facing the domestic industry, including what can be done at a trustee/CIO level to secure support and what the industry as a collective do to enhance PE's reputation in Australasia.

The afternoon continued with a panel focusing on the fundraising market which included a number of international LPs sharing their thoughts on Australasian PE and their preferences and expectations when investing. The day concluded with a keynote fireside chat where David Brown, the newly-announced Chairman of the Australian Private Equity and Venture capital Association, asking investees into the asset class to share their experiences, both good and bad, with PE.

The evening’s gala dinner was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, overlooking the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House and included a speech from the Hon John Anderson AO, Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

Day two opened with a panel of leading Australia-based economists debating what will drive global economic growth in the year ahead and if Australia will continue to benefit from the rebalancing of the global economy towards Asia's emerging markets. This was followed by Les Fallick from Principle Advisory Services interviewing two Australasian PE titans, Tim Sims from Pacific Equity Partners and Greg Minton from Archer Capital, in a high level, thoughtful session examining the industry’s present dynamic and future direction.

The following two panels moved focus to Asian investing looking at China and other emerging markets in the region, as well as the Indian PE landscape and strategies for Australasian fund managers to enter these regions.

The afternoon kicked-off with Eugene Snyman from Cambridge Associates providing a detailed presentation on Australian PE and VC performance and how this compares on a global scale. The conference concluded with a lively discussion from a group of LPs debating the benefits of investing in Australasia, what PE fund managers can do to better engage and attract domestic institutional investors  and the industries which provide the safest investment avenue with the best potential return.

We look forward to seeing you again at the tenth anniversary AVCJ Australia and New Zealand Forum in Sydney next March.