How to Maximize ROI at SuperReturn International 2025
Your guide to navigating the world’s biggest private capital conference, with tips for GPs on speaking, networking, and getting real value.
SuperReturn International, often dubbed “the capital of private capital”, is the world’s largest annual gathering of private markets professionals. It is back in Berlin this June, drawing over 5,500 senior private markets professionals from more than 70 countries, including 1,800+ LPs and 2,700+ GPs. It’s where the private capital world checks in, shows up, and sizes each other up. For GPs, it's a prime opportunity to meet with existing LPs, start new conversations, and hear what the market is thinking across asset classes.
But SuperReturn can also be noisy, expensive, and fast-paced. Just being in the room isn’t enough to guarantee results, especially when every peer is there, too. Passes aren’t cheap, calendars are chaotic, and LPs are often overbooked before they even arrive in Berlin.
So how do you ensure your time, and travel budget, translates into real returns?
Maximizing ROI: Tips for GPs to Get the Most Out of SuperReturn
Attending SuperReturn is a significant investment, financially and strategically. Below are best practices tailored for brand builders & capital raisers in the private markets - to get the most out of SuperReturn 2025:
• Plan Your Outreach and Schedule Early
Don’t wait until you land in Berlin to set up meetings. Use the conference’s networking app (ConnectMe), LinkedIn, and direct email to reach out to target LPs and peers a few weeks in advance and lock in time.
The attendee list is usually released pre-event, mine it for current LPs, warm prospects, and institutions you’ve been eager to engage. Send concise, polite messages proposing a quick meeting or coffee.
Important context: A Clade survey found that 42.3% of LPs are bombarded with up to 300 emails from GPs every single week, and 25% receive over 400 manager emails a week. Explore the channels available to you (like ConnectMe and LinkedIn).
As one of our members commented: “LPs are also bombarded with invites to drinks and dinners during the week, with some of the larger firms often holding large set piece events that pull in large crowds. Don’t try and compete head to head with these, think outside the box and try to offer something more intimate or exclusive.”
For speakers: get a prep call on the calendar with your moderator and co-panelists 3–4 weeks before the event. Use this to align on topics, session flow, and technical details like room setup or mic format (lapel vs. handheld). These little things affect both how you speak and what you wear.
• Boost Your Visibility (Online and On-Site)
With thousands of people attending, visibility is currency. In the lead-up and during the conference, post on LinkedIn and X using the event hashtag (#SuperReturn). According to Informa, up to 20,000 people per day view SuperReturn tweets during the conference. A few posts, a quote from a session, a photo with co-panelists, a quick takeaway, can generate attention and extend your brand.
If your firm has a speaking role, loop in your marketing team early. Share conference collateral, coordinate timing, and decide how to capture and share your presence. Will your panel be filmed? Are photographers onsite? Will organizers provide speaker graphics? Use them.
At the event itself, don’t just attend, participate. Ask a question during sessions (briefly introducing yourself), mingle at coffee stations, and attend networking events beyond your immediate circle. If you're speaking, be accessible afterwards, many of the best follow-up conversations happen once the lights go down.
Tips from Greenbrook’s
Andrew Honnor
“At SuperReturn, it is no longer enough for private capital firms simply to be present – they must stand out. Success in today’s challenging fundraising environment depends not only on what is said, but on the consistency and clarity with which it is delivered – across the panels, in private conversations, and crucially, through strategic digital positioning.
Increasingly, platforms such as LinkedIn serve as the digital extension of SuperReturn, helping shape narratives around the event and creating online footprints that endure long after the last delegate has departed. Our analysis shows that SuperReturn now generates thousands of mentions across LinkedIn and X, especially between mid-May to mid-June, and continues driving perceptions and providing opportunities for engagement in the months that follow. That digital conversation can also precede the event, allowing firms to flag their presence and themes weeks before the keynote speaker’s opening address.
For private capital firms, this is an opportunity to deploy a strategic communications plan – one that aligns messaging, maximises visibility, and demonstrates leadership to investors and peers alike. For instance, we recommend targeted LinkedIn campaigns to help private capital firms reach LP audiences – by spotlighting content such as market insights, videos and deal activity to drive engagement before, during and after the event.
At Greenbrook, we encourage clients to approach SuperReturn not as a standalone event, but as a campaign in its own right: beginning well before the opening plenary and running long after the final panel. Firms who do this with planning, purpose and discipline are the ones who leave a lasting mark.”
• Leverage the Networking Events and Lounges
SuperReturn's informal and curated networking is its secret sauce. From LP-only breakfasts and Women in Private Markets teas to speed networking and cocktail hours, the event is structured to help people connect, and reconnect.
Also key: the Networking Lounge and LP Lounge at the InterContinental are goldmines between sessions. Many LPs hang out there waiting for their next meeting, an ideal moment for a warm introduction or short chat.
Tips from Wagtail’s
Matthew Craig-Greene
“If you are looking to find new investors, respect the fact that you are not going to walk out of the conference with a ticket from someone you haven’t met, before. So don’t ask for that. Just focus on briefly explaining what you do and ask questions to help identify if your fund can play a useful role in their portfolio. Respect their time and their personal space - the triangle on LP badges is not there to encourage a shark attack...”
Evenings often include private receptions, happy hours, and informal gatherings. Sponsor booths double as social hubs, and the hotel bar has become something of an unofficial “fifth track” at the event.
Be natural. If you’re a speaker, that’s an easy opener. If not, lead with curiosity: ask about what they’re seeing in the market, what they thought of a session, or whether they’ve seen anything surprising.
LP Tip:
If you ask for a meeting, include a pitchbook with a detailed track record
• Showcase Thought Leadership (During & After)
If you’ve secured a speaking slot, own the moment. Come to your prep call with clear goals and messaging. Know your “no-go” zones and areas you want to double down on.
After your session, keep the momentum going:
Post a thank-you and photo on LinkedIn
Tag your co-panelists and the moderator
Share any media quotes or photos the conference provides
Internally, repurpose what you said: panel insights can be the basis for a blog post, investor update, or piece of client content. One conversation on-stage can fuel months of positioning.
Tip from Just So Speaking’s Cat Kipling
“Pay more attention to how you can help the audience and less on how you sell from the stage - the former makes you interesting and memorable (in a good way); the latter rarely has a good outcome.”
• Follow Up and Follow Through
SuperReturn may feel like the finish line, but it’s actually the starting point for real conversations.
Within a week of the conference:
Send personalized follow-ups to those you met
Reference your conversation and propose next steps
Share materials or decks if requested
Add new contacts on LinkedIn with context (“Great to meet you at SuperReturn!”)
Hold a team debrief. Capture who met whom, what was said, and where there’s interest. If you spoke, review the recording with colleagues and gather feedback, it will make you better next time.
And if you’re thinking of speaking again, don’t wait, express your interest early and pitch fresh session ideas.
“If you prepare properly, there is no reason you cannot send a brief thank you on the same day you meet someone. Then follow up in the next week with a fuller response, summarising what you discussed and including any relevant materials.”
What Makes 2025 Special?
This year’s SuperReturn agenda reflects the industry’s shifting focus:
AI and tech disruption
Secondaries and continuation funds
Private wealth channels and democratization
Climate and energy transition
Geopolitical risk and regional strategies
And the speakers? A blend of industry titans and cultural figures:
David Rubenstein, Co-Founder of The Carlyle Group
Serena Williams, the only tennis player to accomplish a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles, and Founder of Serena Ventures
C-level leaders from Ares, EQT, Bain Capital, Brookfield, Silver Lake, and more
Expect deep market insight, global perspective, and some headline-making moments.
There will also be numerous side-events which are listed here.
After Berlin: Share Your Feedback with the Community
Private Equity Marketeer offers something no other platforms do: honest, crowd-sourced event reviews from GPs and LPs.
After SuperReturn:
Leave a review of your experience — the good, the bad, and the insightful
Read peer feedback to see how your experience compares
Join the community to stay in the loop on future events and recaps
Visit privateequitymarketeer.com/membership to join the community, contribute your review and read what others are saying.
In summary: SuperReturn 2025 is a rare concentration of capital, strategy, and influence. Whether you’re there to speak, listen, or build relationships, a little advance planning will go a long way. Show up with purpose, and leave with momentum.