Limited partners in private equity funds are usually reluctant to sell their positions at a loss, fearing reputational risk. The steeper the discount, the stronger the hesitation.

• They're making a mistake, argues Joncarlo Mark, who used to lead PE investments for CalPERS and served as chair of the Institutional Limited Partners Association.

Driving the news: Mark currently leads advisory firm Upwelling, which just released an insightful new white paper called "No Country for Old Funds."

• It examined 1,200 U.S. buyout funds over the past 20 years.
• The top finding is that fund performance peaks by Year 10, no matter the decile, and universally declines after Year 12. Rather than a J-curve, it's more like the number 5 resting on its hump (you can draw it, I'll wait).
• That means most LPs would be best served by selling these tail-end funds, even at major discounts, and redeploying the capital. Break glass, beat benchmark.

What they're saying: "This should be a call to action for LPs," Mark explains.

• "Particularly now when there is an active secondaries market and you consider one's ability to recycle into more effective funds, or coinvestments. Even U.S. Treasuries right now are offering better returns to what LPs often get after Year 10."

Zoom in: Upwelling also discovered early warning signs of underperforming funds, which it thinks can be identified by Year 5.

• The metric it uses is average annual change in TVPI, and argues that if a fund isn't within 11% of median TVPI by Year 5, it likely will remain in the fourth quartile forever.

VC angle: Upwelling looked at U.S. buyout funds because they provided the deepest data pool, but Mark says the venture funds likely have a bit longer growth curve but the end result is the same — peak and then an extended tail-off.

The bottom line: Private equity portfolios are aging, as exits have become harder to come by. LP portfolios needn't follow suit.

Shein reportedly filed confidential IPO papers in Hong Kong, 18 months after filing to go public on the London Stock Exchange.

Why it's the BFD: The fast-fashion giant is trying to pressure U.K. regulators into accepting reduced disclosures into its China labor practices, as the current requirement can't get Beijing's signoff.

By the numbers: Shein was valued by VCs at $100 billion in 2022, but one year later that figure was slashed to $66 billion.

• Backers include HongShan, General Atlantic, Mubadala, Claure Group, Tiger Global, Jafco Asia, C Capital, Pan Pacific Capital, and Brookfield.

The bottom line: "While the retailer has about $12 billion in cash on its balance sheet and is in no hurry to float, its investors and advisers are urging the company to accelerate a process that first ran into trouble when Shein failed to win approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023." —Zijing Wu, FT

• Xpanceo, a Dubai-based maker of night-vision contact lenses, raised $250m in Series A funding at a $1.35b valuation led by Hong Kong's Opportunity Venture (Asia). axios.link/3GzXX3V

• Huspy, a UAE proptech for finding homes and mortgages, raised $59m in Series B funding. Balderton Capital led, joined by Founders Fund, Peak XV Partners, ExBorder Partners, Turmeric Capital, COTU Ventures, BY Ventures, Dara Management, and KE Partners. axios.link/3TuqbjB

⚡ PetroApp, a Saudi provider of fuel management software, raised $50m. Jadwa Investment led, joined by Bunat Ventures. axios.link/45TmtYd

⚡ Tulum Energy, a developer of clean hydrogen for industry, raised $27m in seed funding. TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital led, joined by Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, MITO Tech Ventures, and TechEnergy Ventures. axios.link/4ljuvOY

• Arago, a German developer of low-power photonic chips, raised $26m in seed funding from Earlybird, Protagonist, Visionaries Tomorrow, Generative IQ, and C4 Ventures. axios.link/4nBRbvn

• Ekho, a platform for online vehicle purchases to OEMs and auto dealers, raised $17.3m in seed and Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include Activant Capital, JPMorgan Payments, Winnebago Industries, and YC. axios.link/44khheP

• Filics, a German warehouse robotics startup, raised €13.5m from Sandwater, Alven, F-Log Ventures, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, Bayern Kapital, Capnamic, and 10x Founders. axios.link/4lEX0q3

• Gradient Labs, a London-based agentic AI startup focused on regulated industries, raised $13m in Series A funding. Redpoint Ventures led, joined by Localglobe, Puzzle Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, and Exceptional Capital. axios.link/3GslFPO

• Kuru, a trading platform built on the Monad blockchain, raised $11.6m in Series A funding led by Paradigm. axios.link/40DMAih