🎥 Wellington Management's Mike Trihy - going long on evergreen funds: AGM Live from SuperReturn

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

We sat down with Mike Trihy, Head of Portfolio Management for the Venture Growth Evergreen strategy at Wellington Management.

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We were live from Berlin, which becomes the “capital of private capital” in June as private equity industry leaders make the annual pilgrimage to the city for one of the marquee private equity conferences, SuperReturn Berlin.

With Prosek Partners and former Bloomberg TV journalist Deirdre Bolton as my producer, along with her team, we took over a Tiny Space cabin to hold big conversations with some of the industry’s leading alternative asset managers.

Wellington Management has a rich heritage as an independently owned asset manager. The firm, which has taken a research-driven approach and long-term thinking to active management in public markets and, increasingly, in private markets, is nearing its 100-year anniversary. Wellington has grown to over $1.3T in AUM and is the largest sub-advisor in the world.

Mike joined from Bow River Capital to run Wellington’s Venture Growth Evergreen strategy, which will focus on direct growth and venture investments, secondaries, and select fund investments. Mike brings deep expertise in the evergreen fund management space, co-founding and scaling Bow River’s evergreen private markets platform and working as a portfolio manager at evergreen pioneer Partners Group.

Mike and I had a fascinating discussion about the current state of evergreen funds and the venture and growth investing market. We covered:

• The evolution of evergreen private markets funds.

• The convergence of public and private investing.

• Lessons learned from building and managing evergreen funds at Partners Group and Bow River.

• The importance of portfolio construction, liquidity planning, and evergreen fund operations.

• Which firms are well-positioned to run and manage evergreen funds?

• Partnerships in asset management.

• How the market may shake out and why structure must match the asset, the client, and the liquidity terms.

• LP composition, evergreens vs. drawdowns across wealth and institutions and the role of partnerships.

• What the potential wave of mega IPOs could mean for DPI, exits, and private market fundraising.

Bio

As lead portfolio manager for the Venture Growth Evergreen (“VGE”) strategy, Mike is responsible for overall portfolio construction and allocation of capital across direct growth and venture investments, secondaries, and select fund investments. He also oversees risk management, liquidity management, and cash flow forecasting for the evergreen fund.

Prior to joining Wellington Management in 2025 Mike was a portfolio manager at Bow River Capital, where he co-founded and scaled their evergreen private markets platform while overseeing the fund’s investment activity across multiple private markets asset classes. Prior to Bow River, he was a portfolio manager at Partners Group where he was responsible for portfolio construction and asset allocation for evergreen products and custom separate account mandates. He started his investment career at wealth-focused listed private equity firm Red Rocks Capital.

Mike graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in finance, and he is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.

Thanks, Mike, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and perspectives on private markets and evergreen funds.

Show Notes

00:00 Live from SuperReturn Berlin

00:24 Meet Mike Trihy

01:35 Evergreens Explained

02:28 Evergreen Vs Drawdown

02:49 Deal Flow Reality Check

03:01 Portfolio Construction First

03:33 Ops And Valuations

03:47 Sales And Flow Forecasting

04:13 Fiduciary Growth Mindset

04:48 Do Firms Have The Tools

05:24 Scale Vs Boutique Tradeoffs

06:25 Deal Volume Constraint

06:53 Should There Be More

07:05 Near Term Shakeout

07:51 Quality Wins Long Term

08:19 Is There A Best Wrapper

08:25 Matching Asset Client Structure

08:41 Interval Fund Fit

09:35 Avoid Liquidity Mismatch

10:01 LP Mix And Herding Risk

11:30 2022 Denominator Effect

11:57 Evergreen Future Adoption

13:51 Public Markets DNA Advantage

15:37 Build Buy Or Partner

17:20 Mega IPOs And Private Value

19:59 DPI Impact And Exit Wave

21:33 Public Vs Private Valuations

23:53 What Happens Faster Slower

25:47 Closing

Disclaimer: Alt Goes Mainstream is an independent podcast and newsletter focused on the private markets industry. It is published for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, legal advice, or any other form of professional advice. Nothing contained herein should be construed as a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security or investment product. Some companies, individuals, or organizations featured or mentioned in this newsletter may be current or past sponsors of Alt Goes Mainstream. Sponsorship does not influence editorial coverage, but readers should be aware that a relationship might exist. The author may hold direct or indirect investments in companies, funds, or other entities mentioned in this podcast or newsletter.