Vice Chairman of Equity Advisory
Patrick Wellington is a Managing Director and a Vice Chairman of Equity Advisory at Rothschild & Co in London. Patrick Wellington joined Rothschild & Co in 2021. Previously he had spent 38 years working in equity analysis, always in the TMT sectors.
Prior to joining Rothschild & Co, Patrick was at Morgan Stanley, co-founded the UK equities business of Schroder Securities, was the Head of Pan European Research at NatWest Markets and began his career at Wood, Mackenzie.
Insights
We review a strong Q1 for the value of Growth Equity raises on both sides of the Atlantic ( US +48% yoy, Europe +22%) and the potential impact of the ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on trading conditions for venture backed firms, the flow of funding into the asset class and valuation.
Insights
The Mansion House Initiative has ten of the UK’s largest pension providers committing 5% of ‘default’ funds from DC pensions to private assets by 2030, hoping to free up £75bn of growth financing. Ahead of the second anniversary of the Mansion House reforms we take a deep dive into funding conditions for UK private companies.
Insights
Optimism around the potential ability of new technologies driven by artificial intelligence to transform industries is driving the venture capital market forward. At the start of 2025 AI continues to dominate VC fundraising and at rapidly growing valuations. The FTSE Venture Capital Index is just 6% off its August 2021 highs and we are seeing a resurgence in interest in sectors like fintech and biotech. As one VC commentator has remarked. ’We are so back baby’.
Insights
Venture Capital activity grew in 2024 for the first time since 2021 with Pitchbook estimating that global funding for VC backed firms increased by 5% yoy, from $349bn in 2023 to $368bn in 2024. In January’s update we make ten predictions for the growth equity market in 2025. Led by AI and associated industries we think the level of VC funding will grow again in 2025- not a bonanza but a year of solid growth.
Insights
In December’s edition we review the biggest deals in growth equity in 2024 on both sides of the Atlantic. A strong end to the year fuelled by AI deals meant our US Deal Monitor recorded 113 raises of $200m+ raising $82bn in 2024, well ahead of 2023’s $44bn. Europe started strongly and then faded. Our Deal Monitor shows a 2024 ytd total of $32.3bn modestly ahead of 2023 with Climate Tech, AI and software leading. Meanwhile Wall Street strategists anticipate a c10% rise in the S&P 500 in 2025.
Insights
In November's edition, shareholders of VC companies are turning to the secondary market as a tool for interim liquidity. we review recent deals in the buoyant VC secondaries market and look at some of its new dedicated funds. Meanwhile, one in three US venture capital dollars raised in 2024 have gone to AI with more big deals in the offing.