According to ILPA Institute Faculty Member Jackie Hoffmann, Managing Director in the Corporate Lending Americas organization with Siemens Financial Services, Inc. one of the most persistent challenges for private equity LPs is assessing whether a GP has a truly repeatable investment edge across different market environments.
In Jackie’s classroom, especially within the Investment Due Diligence for the LP course, these issues take center stage. LPs work together to analyze real-world diligence scenarios, compare approaches, and refine the core judgment required to evaluate managers with confidence.
What inspires you to be a part of the ILPA Institute faculty / why is LP education so important?
Prior to 2007, Siemens did not have a formal private equity fund investment program on behalf of its German pension funds. As a founding member of the team responsible for establishing and ramping up / growing the program and having previously been a partner in our venture capital group, I was new to the LP role. The impact of ILPA to my understanding of the asset class cannot be understated. Having personally benefited so deeply from ILPA’s programs, I’m motivated to support others in their journey to expand their knowledge of private equity.
You teach Investment Due Diligence for the LP – what do you see as the biggest challenge for LPs to be aware of in this area today, and how does the course address that?
Aside from current hot topics such as continuation funds, one of the most persistent challenges for private equity LPs has been assessing whether a GP truly has a repeatable investment edge across multiple economic cycles. In this course, we address that challenge by focusing on the fundamentals of PE fund due diligence: understanding the market environment, evaluating the GP’s investment strategy, assessing their team, and analyzing their track record, including portfolio company performance and value creation—so investors can make well-informed investment decisions.
