Lots of talk about tariffs for obvious reasons today. I keep seeing people asking for the "smart" argument for tariffs. I am not sure I agree with how the administration is doing this but let me give it a try.

A thread.... First, we are getting ripped off in global trade. Our markets are open and almost everyone is charging us both tariffs and non tariff trade barriers. We aren't going to fix this by asking pretty please. We need to say we will do it as well....

Some good data from Prequin that they presented at Super Return North America this week. A thread.

The average fund holds a first close in 6 months at about 50% of target. This hasn't changed over time.

But total time to raise is way up. 23 months... Fees for private asset classes are down across the board. Some of this is driven by a shift towards larger funds that have lower fee rates.

But pressure on fees going forward is a real story for all private asset classes IMO.

Some really interesting data from Kirkland & Ellis. Never quite seen data like this.

First slide, earnouts are up and happen in 27% of deals. Not surprised that they are up given the value expectation gaps. Surprised at 27%.

1/4 And the average earnout is 30% of deal size. Surprised they are so large. Really shocked by this.

2/4

I am often asked for book recommendations. So I thought I would do it as a single thread. I will start with business but then move to some others.

Comment on the books below if you really like any of them....

A thread. All great businesses start with a great team. Power Score is the best book I have read on how to hire and then how to make sure your team is really engaged. Big fan.