Partners Group Sells Life Time Shares as Its Own Stock Slides Below Key Technical Levels

Swiss private-markets firm reduces Life Time stake by 18.5% in two sales, raising $38.1M, while its own shares languish near a year low amid lower performance fee expectations.

Partners Group is executing a delicate balancing act. The Swiss private-markets investor has been trimming its stake in US fitness chain Life Time Group Holdings while its own shares languish near a 52-week low. Two sales within three weeks underscore the firm’s active portfolio management — but the market has yet to reward the parent company’s stock.

On 21 May, four funds linked to Partners Group offloaded 449,960 Life Time shares at $32.51 apiece, collecting roughly $14.6 million. That followed a larger disposal on 7 May, when 747,178 shares changed hands at $31.46 for $23.5 million. Combined, the two trades reduced the holding by 18.51% to 1,981,243 shares. The exits came close to the stock’s 52-week high of $35.33; Life Time was trading at $33.22 at the time of the second sale — a typical move for a mature private-equity backed position being monetised near its peak.

The funds involved — Partners Group Private Equity Fund, Partners Group Private Equity II, Partners Group Access 83 PF, and Partners Group Series Access II, Series 61 — are all indirectly controlled by Partners Group Holding AG. For a firm that managed $185 billion in assets at the end of 2025, the $38.1 million total proceeds are modest, yet they signal that management is actively recycling capital into new investment themes.

Meanwhile, Partners Group’s own shares are struggling. The stock closed at €911.20, just under the 50-day moving average of €932.56, and sits more than 13% below the 200-day line. Since the start of the year it has lost roughly 17% of its value, with the 52-week low of €870.80 now only about 4.6% away. The 30-day volatility reading of 35.53% is well above the broader market.

The dividend did nothing to halt the slide. Shareholders approved a payout of CHF 46 per share for the 2025 financial year, payable on 27 May. The stock went ex-dividend on 22 May and crossed below the 50-day average four days later.

A structural issue is weighing on sentiment. Partners Group expects performance fees to land at the lower end of its targeted 25% to 40% share of total revenue, as certain transactions originally slated for 2026 were pulled forward into 2025. That shift crimps this year’s income line. CEO David Layton took the unusual step of publishing an extraordinary interim report for the first quarter of 2026 in April, drawing parallels with the firm’s crisis communications during the COVID-19 pandemic — a move that aimed for transparency but also hinted at underlying nervousness.

Operationally, the business remains solid. For the 2025 fiscal year, Partners Group reported revenue of CHF 2.563 billion, EBITDA of CHF 1.611 billion, and net profit of CHF 1.261 billion. Assets under management ended the year at $185 billion, and management is targeting gross new client demand of $26 billion to $32 billion in 2026. The long-term goal of reaching $450 billion in AUM by 2033 remains in place.

On the product front, Partners Group is pushing into evergreen structures and ELTIF formats to broaden access to private equity and infrastructure beyond institutional investors. A notable example within its infrastructure portfolio: North Star, a UK-based portfoio company, recently acquired four new offshore wind service vessels, pushing its run-rate EBITDA to roughly £100 million — more than triple the level four years ago.

Investors will be watching the 15 July interim report for second-quarter fund inflows. That release will either confirm the 2026 fundraising guidance or force a reassessment — and could mark the turning point the stock badly needs.