5 best practices of top-performing PE firms

PE firms spend years building networks, communicating at high volumes, adding contacts constantly, accumulating thousands of relationships. But in a market where mid-market deals attract 8-15 buyers and deal volume dropped 34% in H1 2026, the size of your network isn't the advantage it used to be. The firms reaching targets first aren't working harder, they're converting more of what they already have as a firm.

Hear from Niklas at Armira, a Munich-based PE firm managing ~€5 billion in capital, and an Affinity expert as they discuss how leading firms are thinking about network strategy, relationship management, and what it takes to turn a network into a lasting firm asset.

Five things you'll learn:

• Spotting a dormant network and telling which relationships are actually working versus just sitting in your CRM
• Whether too much of your network lives with too few people and what to do about it before someone leaves
• Separating firm-owned relationships from individual ones so your network belongs to the institution
• Using introductions as a leading indicator of sourcing health alongside deal volume
• Stress-testing your CRM for durability, not just data entry compliance