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SuperReturn Berlin 2026
We were at SuperReturn International in Berlin. These are our notes from the room, and the numbers on who was in it.
Why this room matters
SuperReturn International is the largest private capital gathering in the world. For one week in June, Berlin holds more allocator capital than any other city on earth, and the relationships that decide next cycle's funds get built in its corridors.
- 6,000+ senior decision-makers
- 2,000+ LPs with $50trn in AUM
- 3,000+ GPs from 80+ countries
- 500+ industry speakers
India is still early in this room. That is exactly why it matters.
If you are an established manager, Berlin is where the global institutions that anchor later funds actually gather. Of the LPs we tracked, 23% already invest in Asia, and this is the room where re-ups and first serious India conversations happen side by side.
If you are an emerging manager, this is a long game. 38% of the LPs we tracked back Fund I, and around a fifth of those focus on Asia. Nobody closes on the floor in Berlin, but the allocators who will look at India two funds from now are all in one building.
What we learned on the ground
Receipts, not stories. DPI is the new IRR, the defining theme of the week across attendee recaps (Thomas Allgeyer's roundup), with LP attention moving squarely towards realised gains, as Enrico Reiche noted. Distributions over marks.
GP-led deals are now 15 to 20% of sponsor-backed exits. Dawson Partners' estimate. Continuation vehicles, NAV facilities, and secondaries now sit inside ordinary portfolio management, and Michael Sidgmore described LPs moving towards active portfolio management and solutions-led allocations.
The LP base is widening, and each pool wants different things. Private wealth, insurance, sovereigns, and family offices ran through the whole program: pensions want governance and duration, family offices want direct access and co-invests, insurance brings regulatory constraints. One blind-pool fund for everyone is no longer the whole answer; product design is now part of the strategy.
India, unlocked in Berlin. India Catalyst hosted India Unlocked on the sidelines: a keynote taking India from macro story to investable reality, and a panel on private market opportunities, early stage to exit. We understand this game far better now, and next year we plan to do a lot more.
How the week ran
8 to 12 June 2026, InterContinental Hotel, Berlin. Specialist summits opened the week, and the main conference ran across the final three days, with a programme spanning tech, AI, geopolitics, private wealth, climate transition, private credit, and secondaries.
The official programme was only half of it. More than 50 side events ran across Berlin that week, from closed-door LP dinners to country showcases.
Go deeper in SuperReturn's official recaps: Event report, Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
Who is actually in the room
Who was in the room
- LPs confirmed by the organiser included AXA IM, CPPIB, Generali, GIC, La Caisse, MIT Investment Management Company, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Public Investment Fund, Temasek, and Wellcome Trust.
That is the calibre of the room, and the reason we keep going back.
Also in Berlin that week
- India Unlocked, hosted by India Catalyst on the sidelines: a keynote taking India from macro story to investable reality, and a panel on private market opportunities from early stage to exit.
One of 50+ side events across the city that week. A lot happens off the main stage, and next year we plan to do a lot more of it.
