RSM Cyprus – Proud Platinum Sponsor of the 9th International Funds Summit & Expo

RSM Cyprus, as the official Platinum Sponsor of the 9th International Funds Summit & Expo, held on 23 and 24 October in Limassol, actively participated by presenting the new trends in the Private Equity sector on the Leader's stage and coordinating the stage of "The Impact Investing and Sustainability".

Jasper van Heesch, Private Equity Sector Senior Analyst & Coverage Director at RSM UK, gave an overview on the Leader's stage of the private equity market in Europe and the US, including its activities and prospects for 2024.

Jasper discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by private equity managers and their portfolio companies in areas like fund raising, deal execution, portfolio company value creation, and exits. He shared how fund raising has been under pressure for some houses, but this asset class overall continues to draw in funds with increasing concentration into the hands of the larger players. Investments have been negatively impacted by raised interest rates, with deal count dropping each quarter so far in 2023 to end Q3, but with near levels of "dry powder" to invest and the recent levelling off of interest rates, private equity investors are expected to continue to deploy capital as we move into 2024.

The next day of the summit started just as dynamically with Marios Charalambides, Partner, Board Member and Head of Financial Services, RSM Cyprus, conveying in his introductory speech on ESG to the attendees the strong message, "If now is not the right time to act, when will it be?"

Marios pointed out that we all have a personal responsibility to create a sustainable future, regardless of our sector. Continuing, he mentioned that there are many discussions about managing risk and reward regarding the ESG framework. But there is another factor that we need to include in this context: the reputation of the organisation and its future performance based on the actions adopted today. In addition, he discussed the European legislation, EU Sustainability Reporting Standards, and Governance issues.

At the end of each session, participants had the opportunity to listen to the views of notable experts and representatives of the authorities that participated in the panels.

The conference was held under the auspices of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission.

RSM Cyprus is amongst the leading providers of professional services. With offices in Limassol, Paphos and Nicosia, we offer a comprehensive range of assurance, tax and consulting services. RSM Cyprus is a member firm of RSM International, the 6th largest international assurance, tax and consulting network globally, with firms in 120 countries, including the world's 40 top major business centres and a workforce of 57,000 people in over 830 offices.