Buyout Billionaire Sees Rising China Risk, Sanctions Over Taiwan

The billionaire co-founder of Swiss private equity giant Partners Group Holding AG said the firm has grown more cautious on China, warning that conflict might ultimately break out over Taiwan.

“We are more careful,” said Urs Wietlisbach, whose $142 billion firm hasn’t done a transaction in the country in about two years. “A Chinese deal today just needs to bring a much higher expected return because you take much more risk.”

Urs Wietlisbach

Source: Partners Group Holding AG

Wietlisbach’s assessment speaks to a growing anxiety in the financial industry — that long-simmering geopolitical tensions can flare up with unpredictable speed, endangering the overseas outposts that ...