Investing in Change: Spotlight on Activism in Japan

Nestled at the edge of Germany’s Black Forest, Baden-Baden has long been known as one of Europe’s most elegant destinations. The UNESCO-listed spa town combines more than 2,000 years of history with a reputation for bringing together influential leaders, investors, and decision-makers in a setting designed for meaningful conversations.

Five years ago, it was a sliver of the broader secondaries business — a tool sponsors primarily used to manage liquidity for challenged assets and/or funds. Now investors are increasingly seeking trophy assets in the secondary market and through continuation vehicles (CV), which is just one reason why Jefferies expects global transaction volume to reach $30 billion, up from roughly $20 billion in 2025.

Gabriel Stengel knows the junior banker grind from the inside. He slept under his desk at Lazard before founding Rogo, an AI platform built specifically for investment banking and private markets. Today Rogo counts Jefferies among its users, works with the majority of bulge bracket banks, and sits at an unusual intersection: it is simultaneously a customer, a distribution partner, and a potential competitive target of OpenAI and Anthropic.