Partners Group Insiders Buy the Dip with CHF 20 Million Stake as Gantner Confesses to Communication Lapse

Grizzly Research claims evergreen funds overvalued; stock down 30% since January. Partners Group sues, insiders buy CHF 20M shares.

Grizzly Research’s short attack has amplified the selling pressure on Partners Group shares, which are now trading only 4.6% above their 52-week low of €733. The US-based firm alleges that the asset manager’s evergreen funds are seriously overvalued, claiming up to 40% of investments could be misstated. Partners Group has dismissed the accusations as defamatory and filed a lawsuit. Yet the stock has shed roughly 30% since January, closing Friday at €767 with a relative strength index of 28.7 — deep in oversold territory.

The turmoil traces back to early June, when Partners Group imposed a redemption cap on its $8.6 billion Global Value SICAV. Withdrawal requests for the fund had surged to an estimated 9.8% of net asset value in the second quarter, forcing the company to limit repurchases to 5% per quarter. A Delaware-domiciled private-equity fund faced similar strain, with redemption requests reaching about 6% of NAV. Three other mature evergreen funds, representing a combined $9.7 billion, saw requests between 3.5% and 5% in the same period.

Speculation swirled that Partners Group intended to freeze its entire evergreen platform. The company moved quickly to quash those rumours on June 12, insisting that portfolios were healthy and liquidity sufficient. It pointed out that both evergreen funds had delivered roughly five times the invested capital since inception and generated around 15% in realisations in 2025. Despite the reassurance, the damage to sentiment was already done.

The redemption crunch is hitting the private-client segment hardest. Institutional investors account for about 80% of Partners Group’s assets under management, leaving only a fifth exposed to the retail-driven outflows that have strained the evergreen products. The company’s core business remains largely insulated, but management acknowledges that the net growth of AUM could slow by 1 to 2 percentage points in the second half of 2026, with a similar drag expected in 2027.

That admission triggered a wave of analyst downgrades. Earnings forecasts for 2026 and 2027 were slashed by between 10% and 22%, with analysts citing reduced visibility and a lack of near-term growth catalysts. Nonetheless, Partners Group maintained its 2026 guidance for gross new money inflows of $26 billion to $32 billion, underlining a strong fundraising pipeline.

The market’s pessimism has not deterred those closest to the company. Since early June, insiders have purchased approximately CHF 20 million worth of shares, helped by an extraordinary trading window opened by the firm. Co-founder Fredy Gantner is among the buyers. He has been candid about what went wrong, conceding that Partners Group “definitely needs to communicate better and more proactively.” The admission that the redemption mechanics were poorly explained to the market cuts to the heart of the crisis.

The next major test arrives on July 15, when Partners Group delivers its regular update on assets under management. Investors will be watching to see whether institutional inflows can offset the evergreen outflows and provide a foundation for a recovery. For now, the stock remains under pressure, but the insider buying — combined with the oversold signal — suggests that at least the company’s own leadership sees value at current levels.