Overview of Riding Global Tailwinds with EQT's Jean-Eric Salata
Bloomberg’s Masters in Business features Jean-Eric Salata, chair of EQT Group, in a wide-ranging conversation about his global career, the evolution of private equity in Asia, and where he sees the biggest opportunities today. Salata traces his path from Chile to Wharton to Hong Kong, explaining how early exposure to multiple cultures shaped his investing style. He also details the growth of Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), its 2022 merger with EQT, and why global diversification, AI infrastructure, Japan reforms, India’s consumer growth, and energy transition themes are central to his outlook.
Salata’s Career Path and Global Perspective
Salata’s career is rooted in a long-standing interest in investing, which began in childhood when he started reading business biographies and investing money from a paper route.
Key milestones
- Grew up in Chile; family history spans Eastern Europe and South America.
- Studied finance and economics at Wharton.
- Moved to Hong Kong after college and built most of his career in Asia.
- Worked at Bain, then in finance/operations at a Hong Kong industrial family business, and later at AIG’s internal private equity arm.
- Helped build Baring Private Equity Asia into a major regional platform.
Core insight
He says being an “outsider” helped him spot gaps between what was already happening in the U.S. and what was emerging in Asia, which made him drawn to building something new.
Building a Pan-Asian Private Equity Platform
A major theme of the interview is how BPEA became a regional investment franchise rather than a series of isolated country funds.
What made the strategy unusual
- Early on, most investors focused on single-country vehicles in Asia.
- Salata and his team built a regional platform spanning China, India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia.
- Success depended on:
- hiring local teams in each market,
- building a shared culture across geographies,
- institutionalizing due diligence and investment committee processes.
Early challenges and lessons
- BPEA was born during a turbulent time:
- the Barings collapse,
- the 1997 Asian financial crisis,
- currency devaluations and distressed balance sheets.
- The firm started with only $25 million of capital instead of the originally expected $300 million.
- That constraint forced discipline and helped define the firm’s early distressed/growth investment approach.
Why EQT and BPEA Merged
Salata says the merger with EQT was driven by industry consolidation and the need for scale.
Why the merger made sense
- By around 2015, he saw private markets becoming more global, more public, and more multi-product.
- He believed a standalone regional firm would eventually need to either:
- expand globally on its own, or
- partner with a larger platform.
- EQT offered a strong cultural fit, institutional scale, and a global framework that matched BPEA’s ambitions.
Cultural fit was the deciding factor
- EQT’s values:
- high performance,
- transparency,
- informality,
- entrepreneurship,
- respect.
- Salata emphasized that the merger worked because both firms shared a founder-led, long-term, institution-building mindset.
Where EQT Sees the Biggest Opportunities
Salata argues that investors are overly concentrated in U.S. assets and should think more globally.
Geographic diversification
- EQT has roughly two-thirds of its business outside the U.S.
- He believes investors increasingly want exposure to Europe and Asia to reduce concentration risk.
- He notes that although U.S. markets have outperformed for years, overseas markets recently showed stronger gains in places like Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and Europe.
AI infrastructure and the CapEx super-cycle
One of EQT’s most important themes is the global capital expenditure boom tied to AI and re-industrialization.
Investment areas
- Data centers / compute
- Power generation, grid, and storage
- Digital connectivity
- Supply chain businesses supporting AI infrastructure
Why it matters
- AI demand is creating a massive buildout in infrastructure.
- The opportunity is not just in the U.S.; it is global, with meaningful spillover into Europe and Asia.
- EQT’s infrastructure business is positioned to benefit across regions.
Japan: A Major Buyout Opportunity
Salata sees Japan as one of the most compelling markets in the world right now.
What is driving the opportunity
- Corporate governance reforms
- Increased shareholder activism
- More pressure on management teams to unlock value
- Generational change in founder-led businesses
Result
- More take-privates, divestitures, and turnaround-style buyouts
- A very active market that is still relatively underpenetrated versus the U.S.
China: Still Important, but No Longer the Only Story
Salata does not dismiss China, but he argues the region is becoming more multipolar.
His view on China
- China remains a major force in innovation, manufacturing, and R&D.
- However, geopolitical tensions are pushing strategic separation in areas like:
- chips,
- defense,
- technology.
- He still believes investors and policymakers need to understand China because it influences:
- EVs,
- solar,
- batteries,
- biotech,
- global supply chains.
Bigger picture
Asia is no longer just “China plus the rest”; several other markets are now creating meaningful growth and investment opportunities.
India: Consumer Growth, Healthcare, and Housing
Salata is particularly bullish on India.
Why India stands out
- Largest and youngest population in the world.
- Strong demographic tailwinds.
- A growing middle class is driving consumer demand.
Areas EQT likes in India
- Housing
- Housing finance
- Healthcare
- Tech-enabled enterprise adoption
Longer-term thesis
While India has long been framed as a tech services story, Salata thinks the next phase is broader consumer-led expansion.
Energy Transition: Market Forces Are Taking Over
Salata says the energy transition is becoming an economic necessity, not just a policy goal.
His thesis
- Energy security is now a top priority globally.
- The transition will accelerate when alternatives become more cost-effective than fossil fuels.
- China, Europe, Australia, and parts of Southeast Asia are all active areas of opportunity.
What EQT invests in
- Battery storage
- Renewable energy infrastructure
- Grid-related assets
- Power systems tied to AI and electrification
How EQT Invests and Returns Capital
EQT has a wide platform and multiple ways for investors to get exposure.
Current structure
- About 30 strategies across:
- private equity,
- infrastructure,
- real estate,
- secondaries.
Fund formats
- Traditional drawdown funds
- Open-ended / evergreen structures
- monthly subscriptions
- quarterly redemptions, subject to liquidity
- immediate capital deployment
- broad exposure across strategies
Why this matters
Salata argues that evergreen and secondary structures make private markets more accessible and more flexible for both institutions and wealth clients.
Public and Private Markets Are Converging
One of the most interesting “undernoticed” trends, according to Salata, is the blurring of lines between public and private markets.
Key ideas
- Companies are staying private longer.
- Private market exposure is becoming more democratized.
- Secondary markets are becoming a major gateway into private assets.
- Investors can now gain exposure to mature private businesses without waiting for a new fund vintage.
Broader implication
Salata believes the secondary market for private companies is becoming increasingly important as trillions in private assets remain unrealized.
Advice and Takeaways
For young investors
- Be AI-native.
- Stay persistent.
- Don’t give up when markets or opportunities change.
What he wishes he had known earlier
- The power of compounding.
- If a business is good and you can let it ride for decades, long-term returns can be enormous.
Bottom Line
Jean-Eric Salata’s big-picture message is that private markets are being reshaped by scale, globalization, and structural shifts in capital spending. His outlook is built around:
- global diversification,
- AI and infrastructure investment,
- Japan’s corporate reform cycle,
- India’s consumer growth,
- and the rise of open-ended and secondary private market vehicles.
The conversation is as much a reflection on building a durable investment institution as it is a roadmap for where global alternatives may go next.