The Bridge Ep. 12: Value Is Moving Pre IPO. Where Do Investors Go Next?

Sonali Basak, Chief Investment Strategist at iCapital, is joined by Jason Thomas, Head of Global Research & Investment Strategy at Carlyle, to discuss how more value is being created before companies ever reach the public markets, and why that shift is changing how investors access growth. As private capital has expanded across the lifecycle of companies, Thomas explains why there are now significantly more privately backed firms than public ones, and why a growing share of lifetime returns is realized prior to IPO.

The conversation moves from there into the forces reshaping portfolio construction. Thomas outlines how passive flows are weakening price discovery, why concentration risk has become more acute, and how shifting stock-bond correlations are challenging traditional diversification. His core argument is that investors are not just adapting to a changing market cycle, but to a different structure altogether—one where accessing growth, managing risk, and navigating a higher-for-longer environment increasingly requires a more deliberate allocation to private markets.