KKR's Head of European PE, Philipp Freise: Do Andreessen & General Catalyst Scare KKR?

KKR’s Philipp Freise argues PE is not threatened by VC crossover, defends Europe as the largest standalone PE fund, and warns of a $3T liquidity overhang in venture.

• KKR lost ~$500M on Turkish logistics company UN Rorow due to unexpected rule-of-law failures, now avoids emerging markets entirely.
• KKR Europe’s current fund is $8B, the largest standalone private equity fund in Europe; 90% of LPs are non-European, mostly American.
• Only 15% of KKR’s exits over 15 years were IPOs; 85% were strategic sales or secondary PE transactions.
• Freise estimates $3T is locked up in private market LP positions, with secondaries growing rapidly as the relief valve.
• Retail investors represent ~$192T in savings with only 1% in alternatives; moving to 5% would add $10T to the asset class.
• Freise passed on Alibaba at an early stage and missed Spotify as first institutional investor due to fund size constraints.
• He is not concerned about a16z or General Catalyst entering PE, calling venture a fundamentally different skill set requiring deep vertical expertise.
• Freise predicts KKR’s European AUM will double or triple in 10 years, driven by insurance capital and retail fund structures, not traditional fund vehicles.

2025-06-30 · Watch on YouTube