Vibe at Milken: Shiny happy people set for more wealth
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
I spent yesterday among the masters of the universe at the annual Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, and walked away with one overriding thought: Most everyone was quite satisfied with the current state of affairs.
The big picture: Yes, there were mentions of Israel/Gaza, Ukraine/Russia, climate change, national debt, and the growing toxicity of domestic politics. But most of it was said to me as a perfunctory aside — almost as if it was done more for the sake of being polite than of being real.
- Or sometimes even as opportunistic. Such as bankers talking about how dealflow is getting pulled forward because the M&A market may grind to a halt ahead of the presidential election and any potential chaos that follows.
State of play: These are the people who have internalized the economic data that the Biden administration keeps trying to highlight, without being stung much by inflation.
- Plus constant mentions of AI as the next great profit multiplier.
Zoom in: There was virtually no consternation over the lack of rate cuts so far in 2024.
- Not even from private equity bigs, who had been so excited about them going into the year.
- Now, they seem content with how high rates create buying opportunities, despite high equity prices, and what they mean for affiliated private credit businesses.
Behind the scenes: Sure, some of this was people talking their book to a reporter.
- For example, several buyout pros acknowledged fundraising challenges, as limited partners have grown tired of low distributions (in addition to other challenges, like foreign exchange rates).
- But those mentions were almost always as everyone else's problem, because their DPI was deep in the black.
- There weren't even any outside protests, which conference organizers seem to have expected given introduction of metal detectors and other new security measures.
The bottom line: Positivity was palpable. Not just because most everyone there is fabulously wealthy, but because they sincerely expect to get even richer in the year ahead.
