Private Markets Push for World’s Wealthy Runs Into AI Meltdown

The salespeople on the front line of a private-markets push to win over the world’s wealthy are quite adept at fielding questions on opacity, liquidity and valuation. Their list of tricky talking points just got a new addition — the so-called SaaSpocalypse.

At the IPEM Wealth conference that kicked off in Cannes this week, a market meltdown linked to fears over artificial intelligence’s impact was an uncomfortable backdrop as a selloff ripped through a raft of software stocks. It also spilled over to private-credit and alternative asset managers, many of whom were out in force at the event. However, ...