“Everyone needs to go in with eyes wide open,” Barings chief executive Mike Freno says, referring to the wave of private markets M&A activity that has swept through the asset management sector.

Freno, who has been in the top job at the $421bn asset manager since November 2020, is no stranger to striking a deal. In February, the firm acquired Artemis Real Estate Partners — a move that will expand the US asset manager’s real estate equity capabilities as well as build on its 2022 purchase of Altis Property Partners and structured finance firm Gryphon Capital Partners in 2023.