The asset management arm of Investec, the UK and South Africa-based bank and fund manager, no longer invests in listed private-equity firms as companies’ high valuations are squeezing returns, a director at the asset manager said in an interview with FN's sister publication Private Equity News.

Investec’s multi-asset fund Diversified Growth Fund, which had more than £3bn of assets under management in September, used to invest about 5% of its cash in listed private equity firms, but sold all the remaining shares in the firms in the third quarter of 2017, said Atul Shinh, an investment director at Investec Asset Management.