Partners Group Rakes in $16 Billion, but Royalty Growth and UBS Downgrade Tell Two Stories

Partners Group raised a record $16B in H1 2026, but shares are down 30% YTD amid falling performance fees, Evergreen redemptions, and valuation allegations.

Partners Group posted a blockbuster first half in terms of new client commitments, pulling in $16 billion – a record and well above the $12.2 billion collected a year earlier. The Swiss private-markets investor now oversees $186 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, up from $174 billion a year ago. Yet the stock has barely budged, recently trading at €743.40, a gain of just 1.92% on the day, and remains down roughly 30% year-to-date. The yawning gap between the fundraising triumph and the share price tells a more complicated story.

Earnings quality and Evergreen outflows cast a shadow

Despite the torrent of new money, Partners Group warned that performance fees would likely fall below 20% of total revenue in the first half – a sign of pressure on earnings quality even as the top-line haul hits historic levels. Meanwhile, ongoing redemptions from the firm’s popular Evergreen funds are clipping net asset growth by 1 to 2 percentage points, according to management. UBS took notice, downgrading the stock from Buy to Neutral on July 13 with a CHF 705 price target, citing near-term earnings-per-share headwinds and uncertainty over liquidity in the Evergreen structures. The bank’s caution echoes the company’s own cautious outlook: Partners Group expects net asset growth to turn slightly negative—by 1% to 2%—over the period from the second half of 2026 through the first half of 2027.

Royalties: a rising star in a crowded portfolio

One bright spot stands apart. The royalty strategy, launched only in 2024, grew its assets under management by 50% to $1.5 billion, now comprising 53 investments, including rights to the TV series South Park, music from The Weeknd, a nasal-spray product, and natural-gas licenses. The portfolio has delivered an annualized return of around 12% with volatility below 5%. A dedicated Evergreen fund for royalties has been open to investors since mid-2025. Outside royalties, Partners Group invested £260 million into a UK rail-vehicle leasing platform and took a stake in a global aircraft-leasing portfolio from Avenue Capital Group. In real estate, the firm plans a luxury Breitling-branded tower in Miami under its “B Residences” strategy.

Short seller allegations hang over asset valuations

Since April, the company has faced accusations from short seller Grizzly Research, which claims that Partners Group overvalues its Evergreen assets by as much as 40%, citing the watchmaker Breitling as a specific example. Partners Group has announced legal action and denies the claims. A Vontobel analyst dismissed some of the allegations as routine valuation differences in the industry, but the combination of redemptions, falling performance fees, and valuation questions has fueled skepticism among analysts and investors alike.

Technical picture remains weak

The stock’s 50-day moving average sits at €816.02, meaning the current price of €743.40 is roughly 9% below that level. Friday’s modest bounce does little to alter a chart that has been trading well below key moving averages for months. From its 52-week high set on August 8, 2025, the shares are still off by nearly 39%. Management tried to reassure investors by flagging possible share buybacks at current levels and reiterating the dividend policy, but the full half-year report due on September 1 will be closely watched for further details on earnings quality and the Evergreen redemption trajectory.

The next few months will test whether Partners Group’s diversified growth engine—spanning private equity, infrastructure, real estate, and the fledgling royalty unit—can rebuild trust. Record inflows and a rising royalty business stand on one side of the ledger; on the other sit fee compression, redemption caps, short-seller attacks, and an analyst downgrade. For now, the market is hedging its bets.