The Mitsui Life Financial Research Center is hosting the 40th Mitsui Finance Symposium: Private Capital Markets, to be held June 3 - 5, 2026, at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

CONFERENCE OVERVIEW: Mitsui Life Financial Research Center is pleased to announce the 40th Annual Mitsui Symposium on Private Capital Markets. The Symposium will be held June 3-5, 2026, at the Ross School of Business, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

We invite submissions of theoretical and empirical papers on all aspects of private capital markets, including but not limited to:

• Technology and Private Markets: AI/ML startups, digital transformation, technology adoption, financing innovation, and entrepreneurial ecosystems
• Private Markets and Real Economic Outcomes: Employment, inequality, innovation, performance and value creation
• Access to and Democratization of Private Markets: Retail investor participation and regulatory frameworks
• Private Equity and Venture Capital: Performance, governance, operational improvements, and value creation
• Private Credit and Direct Lending: Market structure, risk assessment, and regulatory implications
• Private Real Assets: Data centers, office conversions, buy-to-rent, affordable housing, green buildings
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Innovation cycles, non-traditional employment arrangements (e.g. gig economy), impact of exposure and access on entrepreneurship

Special consideration will be given to early-stage research that has not been presented at major conferences. We particularly encourage submissions of work-in-progress and preliminary papers that would benefit from feedback before journal submission.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: We are delighted to announce that Professor Josh Lerner, Jacob H. Schiff Professor at Harvard Business School, will deliver the keynote address.

FULL PARTICIPATION: We highly value active audience participation and informal interactions among participants. The intimate nature of the symposium (approximately 50 participants) facilitates meaningful intellectual exchange and collaboration, and we will build in time and social events to foster this.

Each paper will be assigned a discussant, and two Best Discussant Awards will be given out for the best discussions. Awards are based on anonymous votes of the participants at the end of the final session and will be announced at lunch on Friday, June 5.

PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Neroli Austin, Victor Lyonnet, M.P. Narayanan, Uday Rajan, Gabriella Ring