Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 4/5

Lyon: Risk managers are entirely useless in private drawdown funds

David Lyon · David Lyon – Hybrid Capital Solutions for Private Assets (EP.471) · Nov 17, 2025 · at 53:07

David Lyon, Head of Capital Solutions at Neuberger Berman, outlines his perspective on risk management in private market funds to Ted Seides.

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“I used to laugh whenever a drawdown private fund has a risk manager. I'm like, well, what does that person do? Because you don't hold cash. You don't hedge. Are they on your investment committee telling you what not to do? Because all of your risk comes from sizing the bets and what you're investing in from the get go. Once you're in these names, they're private. You can't say, whoops, made a mistake. I'm going to move on.”

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