Schroders Capital CIO: AI is about returns, not headcounts
Key takeaways
- In an asset class driven by outliers, a single missed winner or an avoidable impairment can have a material impact on the fund.
- PitchBook spoke with Rode about how those tools work, where the industry stands, and why he believes firms focused on cost reduction are missing the bigger picture.
- This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Schroders Capital CIO: AI is about returns, not headcounts Emily Lai Wed, June 24, 2026 at 6:46 PM GMT+7 5 min read SDR.L Almost every PE firm now claims to use AI, but Schroders Capital CIO Nils Rode thinks some are asking the wrong question about it.
The firm, which has $112 billion AUM and is the private markets and alternative investment division of asset manager Schroders, published a white paper in May arguing that AI’s highest-value contribution in PE will not come from cost savings or leaner teams, but from shifting the return distribution—finding more winners and avoiding more write-offs.
The arithmetic behind that argument is stark. According to the paper, which draws on a global sample of buyout investments studied over more than three decades, roughly one in four buyout deals delivers a gross IRR above 50% over a typical four-year hold, while one in 10 returns nothing at all. In an asset class driven by outliers, a single missed winner or an avoidable impairment can have a material impact on the fund.