The multiple you plan for depends on the team that runs the company.
Leadership is a value-creation lever. We help sponsors pull it, from close to exit.
Private equity portfolio leadership consulting
Buyers don’t pay for EBITDA alone. They pay for a business that runs without heroics: a credible management team, clear decision rights, a steady operating rhythm, and people who stay. When those are missing, it shows in diligence and in the price. PointerWise helps operating partners, deal teams and portfolio boards build that leadership capacity throughout the hold period.
Why leadership now drives value
10–12%
annual EBITDA growth a typical buyout now needs to return 2.5x in five years, up from about 5% in the 2010s
(Bain & Company, Global Private Equity Report press release, February 2026)
65%
of private equity firms report CEO turnover during the holding period
(AlixPartners, Eleventh Annual Private Equity Leadership Survey, 2026)
83%
of PE executives say unplanned CEO turnover lengthens holding periods
(earlier AlixPartners research, cited in the survey’s March 2026 release)
44%
of portfolio-company leaders report a higher risk of losing top performers
(AlixPartners, Eleventh Annual Private Equity Leadership Survey, 2026)
PE investors rank the management team among the top factors in choosing an investment, and almost 58% end up recruiting their own senior teams before or after investing (Gompers, Kaplan and Mukharlyamov, “What Do Private Equity Firms Say They Do?”, NBER, 2015).
The takeaway: growth now has to come from operations, and operations run on leaders. Developing the leadership team you have, and catching gaps early, protects the plan before turnover does.
From close to exit
Listening is the entry point, not the whole offer. Here’s how we support a company through the hold period.
1
After close: see the company clearly
A Listening Project gives the board an independent baseline: how work really happens, where authority actually sits, and what leaders see that the deal model doesn’t. When founders step back, we support the transition so value isn’t lost with them.
2
Integrate and align
When acquired businesses must operate as one company, we help the leadership team surface misalignments in the operating model, decision rights and priorities, and work through them together. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team© and Working Genius workshops build a team that debates well, commits and holds each other accountable.
3
Build the leadership bench
Leadership Team Coaching develops the executive team together over a year. Individual coaching supports new or stretched CEOs. Powerful Delegation frees the CEO to lead the enterprise instead of fighting fires.
4
Protect value
Attorney-led workplace investigations, handled quickly, confidentially and defensibly, when complaints or executive conflict put the business at risk.
5
Prepare for exit
A follow-up Listening Project tests what buyers will test: leadership credibility, succession depth, systems, and how finance and customer-facing teams actually operate, while there’s still time to act.
Why sponsors work with PointerWise
- Board-level reporting tailored to the sponsor, with confidentiality protections for participants
- One framework across the portfolio, so the board can compare companies
- Legal and HR depth: 39 years of combined experience in employment-defense law, HR executive leadership and workplace consulting; investigations are attorney-led
- Trusted by a private equity sponsor since 2017, across its portfolio companies
- A women-owned, mother-daughter firm: Terri and Andi lead every engagement personally
Ways to engage
Portfolio-wide: one engagement agreement and consistent reporting across the sponsor’s portfolio.
Standalone: an arrangement for an individual portfolio company.
Talk with us about your portfolio
Tell us where a company is in the hold period and what’s keeping you up at night. We’ll suggest where to start.
Let’s Connect Tell us what’s happening in your organization, and we’ll suggest a way forward.
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