Invest Like a Barbarian

Private markets will make your money work harder. Here's how: Step out of the regulated stock market casino and you will find a vast ocean of investment opportunity. But it doesn't have to be any riskier. Private markets managers are trusted by the world's largest institutions to provide returns well in excess of those on any public market - and individual investors can now get a piece of that action. In Invest Like a Barbarian, Ross Butler will show how you can Share in the spoils of a Private Markets revolution. The book explains why private equity is not a new idea - it follows ancient investment principles, forgotten in age of liquidity and high-frequency trading. It explains how the rise of private credit is a hugely under-appreciated secular phenomenon that will allow individuals - not just banks - to become the lenders and financiers of the third industrial revolution. And it explains why making yourself wealthy by investing in private markets isn't just good for you, it's good for the world. Step outside your comfort zone and do something worthwhile (with your money). Inside the book:

• The ancient and modern roots of private markets, and how the major sub-asset classes work: venture capital, private equity, private credit, and private real assets.
• How individual investors can enjoy the spoils on the same - and sometimes better - terms as the largest institutional investors.
• Why everything you've probably heard about private equity and private markets is wrong. Private markets are anti-establishment, creative-disruptors. Even mainstream investment theory can't put it in a box.

This is perfect for any aspiring private markets investor, from individuals investing their pensions and personal wealth, to private wealth managers and private bankers interested in educating their high net worth clients about opportunities in the rapidly democratising private markets; it is also the ideal introduction to private equity and credit for students, policymakers and regulators and anyone interested in understanding the nature of true investment in the modern economy.

Acknowledgements ix
Foreword xi
Preface: The Gates are Opening xv
Mission Protocols xxiii
Part I Foundations 1
Chapter 1 A Mighty Inheritance 3
Chapter 2 The Enemy Within 21
Part II Growth 35
Chapter 3 Big Beautiful Buyouts 37
Chapter 4 All Deals, Great and Small 45
Chapter 5 Real Deals and Guerrillas 55
Chapter 6 Risk It for the Biscuit 61
Chapter 7 The Rise of Free Banks 77
Part III Access 89
Chapter 8 Fully Committed 93
Chapter 9 Gated Evergreens 99
Chapter 10 Listed Private Capital 109
Chapter 11 Lost in Liquidity 121
Chapter 12 Future Master of the Universe 135
Chapter 13 The Social Utility of Barbarians 143
Conclusion 153
About the Author 157
Glossary of Terms 159
Notes 167
Index 173