How LPs Evaluate Lower Middle Market Private Equity Managers

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Posted Feb 3, 2026

How LPs Evaluate Lower Middle Market Private Equity Managers

In this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Lara Banks to explore her investing career and her long tenure at Makena Capital. Lara shares how her early background in energy, quantitative trading, and project finance shaped her perspective as an allocator, and how her role evolved as Makena expanded its private equity and venture platform. The conversation dives into Makena’s origins, its approach to serving endowments, foundations, and families, and how the firm balances innovation, customization, and disciplined portfolio construction in private markets. Together, they also discuss how talent, alignment, and long-term thinking drive Makena’s approach to manager selection and capital deployment across cycles.

They discuss:

Lara Banks’ career path from energy and quantitative trading to leading private equity and venture investing at Makena
Makena Capital’s evolution from a Stanford endowment model to evergreen private equity and venture vehicles
The firm’s focus on emerging managers, independent sponsors, and people-driven investing
How Makena manages liquidity, pacing, and secondaries within evergreen private market portfolios
Current themes in private equity and venture, including AI, energy infrastructure, and biotech inflection points

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The Distribution by Juniper Square

How LPs Evaluate Lower Middle Market Private Equity Managers - Lara Banks - Managing Director & Head of Private Equity - Makena Capital

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Description

In this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Lara Banks to explore her investing career and her long tenure at Makena Capital. Lara shares how her early background in energy, quantitative trading, and project finance shaped her perspective as an allocator, and how her role evolved as Makena expanded its private equity and venture platform. The conversation dives into Makena’s origins, its approach to serving endowments, foundations, and families, and how the firm balances innovation, customization, and disciplined portfolio construction in private markets. Together, they also discuss how talent, alignment, and long-term thinking drive Makena’s approach to manager selection and capital deployment across cycles.

They discuss:

Lara’s career path from energy and quantitative trading to leading private equity and venture investing at Makena
Makena Capital’s evolution from a Stanford endowment model to evergreen private equity and venture vehicles
The firm’s focus on emerging managers, independent sponsors, and people-driven investing
How Makena manages liquidity, pacing, and secondaries within evergreen private market portfolios
Current themes in private equity and venture, including AI, energy infrastructure, and biotech inflection points

Links:

Lara on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lara-banks-4216a69/

Makena Capital - https://www.makenacap.com/

Brandon on LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/⁠

Juniper Square - ⁠https://www.junipersquare.com/⁠

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro (00:02:21) - Lara’s career journey (00:08:06) - Leadership evolution at Makena Capital (00:12:34) - Makena Capital's structure and customization (00:17:48) - Role of an OCIO and client interaction (00:20:39) - Focus on emerging managers and investment strategies (00:27:49) - Private equity and venture capital insights (00:34:51) - Managing liquidity in private markets (00:40:37) - Trends and opportunities in venture capital (00:47:06) - Conclusion and final thoughts

Posted Feb 3, 2026