Building Australia’s growth companies and industries of the future

_{Navleen Prasad, CEO, Australian Investment Council}

Navleen Prasad has been CEO of the Australian Investment Council since November 2022. She previously worked for Macquarie Group in government engagement and corporate affairs, as well as tax advisory at Deloitte and PwC.

The Australian Investment Council represents private equity, venture capital, private credit, institutional investors, such as not-for-profit superannuation funds and family offices, and the broader private capital advisor ecosystem.

Shaun Beaney, Editor of Preqin First Close, and Grant Murgatroyd, Head of News, spoke with Navleen about Australia’s private capital potential, industrial diversification, and having a very good story to tell about growth.

Shaun Beaney: Why is private capital so important for Australia?

Many economies around the world are facing sluggish productivity growth, which clearly has wide-ranging impacts, not just for businesses, but also for communities and living standards. Australia is facing a number of challenges, and also some opportunities, many of which are grounded in four mega trends of decarbonization, digitalization, demographics, and deglobalization.

At the same time, we’ve seen government balance sheets continue to be constrained. That’s only going to continue if you look from a demographic point of view. We have an aging population, and over time, workforces will become smaller, so the government’s ability to generate revenue is also going to be challenged. That creates a space for private capital in Australia’s economic story.

Our members are responsible for 600,000 full-time-equivalent jobs and back 1,100 companies, including start-ups and growth businesses. Private capital contributes about $77bn GVA to Australia’s economy. That’s equivalent to about 3% of GDP.

SB: What about industrial diversification?

One of the largest contributors to the economy is services, and Australia is pretty good at them. Private capital plays a big role in backing professional services, technology businesses, consumer, and industrial.

Because the population is relatively small, Australia can probably sustain only a handful of incumbents in any given industry. But private capital has been really useful in providing some greater competition.

A really great example is in our airline industry when, at the beginning of the pandemic, one of our major carriers, Virgin Australia, was at financial risk. A private equity firm, Bain Capital, stepped in to shore up that business. It’s just re-listed on the ASX. It’s good to see that synergy between public and private markets at work.

SB: What are the AIC’s top priorities at the moment?

Our priorities reflect our members’ priorities. Access to capital is perennial. One of the points that distinguishes Australia from an investment standpoint is that we have the fifth-largest pension pool in the world. It's a pool that’s admired and respected around the world. A lot of that A$4tn is being allocated offshore, which is entirely appropriate.

In line with the global trend, there’s been a massive focus on the high-net-worth channel here, and how you develop and design products that are suitable for that investor class. There’s been a great increase in family offices. Our AIC Yearbook shows that the number of family offices invested into in Australian private equity continues to grow.

There’s an increasing reliance and interest in engaging with international capital. We see our members back in market, fundraising, and there are a number that have raised capital. Increasingly, non-Australian markets have become part of their plans.

SB: What have your public-policy priorities been since Anthony Albanese’s Labor government was re-elected in May?

A lot of our policy priorities haven’t had to shift all that much. But what has shifted is recognition that Australia needs to find ways to raise productivity, and there are some long-term structural issues. Private investment is probably going to be the largest contributor to higher levels of productivity.

International capital is already a significant part of the capital mix here in Australia. It’s going to have to be an increasing part. On rules around foreign investment approvals and processes, we’ve definitely seen some improvement, but there is still a long way to go, particularly for more complex transactions.

Grant Murgatroyd: Could private capital tell an even better story about its impact?

From a private capital point of view, the overall story here is actually a pretty good one. We talked about the size of the pension pool and how enviable that is. Smaller and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the economy, and that reflects entrepreneurialism, which is really conducive to higher levels of productivity. We’ve got this robust financial system, which facilitates capital flows through financing and intermediation.

There’s an opportunity to raise general awareness about the great community outcomes portfolio companies are achieving with backing from actively managed asset classes.

GM: How is the international economic, financial, and trade context affecting your members?

Private capital is pretty responsive to context. I think that’s one of the things that distinguishes it. It’s very agile. Levels of international capital interest and participation in Australia have held up pretty well. But it’s really clear there’s an opportunity for Australia to be a much bigger beneficiary of any reallocation of capital that’s taking place, whether that’s globally or within Asia.

Australia has been a beacon of stability, a calm port in a storm – and it’s been a pretty wild storm in the last couple of years. We saw a lot of international LPs who had the view that Australia was probably a bit of an under-loved market. As they got to know Australia better, they could really see that stability and resilience in the economy, and in our regulatory systems and governance frameworks.

From an investment opportunity point of view, Australian companies are pretty good at building for the world. We’ve got a relatively small economy, so for our businesses to scale up, they’ve got to be able to build for the world. You can certainly see it in our tech companies. For example, Australia is incredibly good at software as a service.

Asian nations dominate our top 10 trading partners, so investment in private capital here is a good way to get exposure to some of those demographic opportunities in Asia, without necessarily having to understand 10 or 15 different markets in the region.

GM: If there were one thing that you could change about how private capital works, what would it be?

We need to focus on growth. I don’t just mean as an industry, but economically, we need to focus on growth. What has to come is a recalibration of risk and risk appetite. Our industry is pretty good at that. But in terms of governments, policy settings, and regulatory settings, how do we recalibrate for a risk appetite that’s oriented toward growth?

Grant Murgatroyd is Head of News at Preqin, and Shaun Beaney is the Editor of Preqin First Close. It’s quick, easy, and free to subscribe to our daily newsletter here.

Read our free Data Drop Australia 2025: Investor Trends, by Valerie Kor, and the Australian Investment Council’s Australian Private Capital 2025 Yearbook, published in partnership with Preqin.

Special thanks to Agnes King at the Australian Investment Council.

_{The views expressed are the opinions of the Australian Investment Council, provided as of July 2025. They do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or any other advice, and are subject to change. The content does not necessarily express the views of BlackRock, Preqin, or any of their affiliates. Australian Investment Council is not affiliated with Preqin.}