Happy Wednesday Hubsters! Have you noticed a dip in exit activity over the past few weeks? There is some indication that distributions, at least among a few LPs I’ve spoken to, have slowed in recent weeks. I’m not sure if that’s a sign that M&A activity is slowing down or what. Let me know what you’re seeing out there … Energy: New PE Hub reporter Obey Martin Manayiti chatted with Ben Dell, co-founder and managing partner of Kimmeridge, about oil and gas investing, which has not really been the most sought-after strategy in private equity. Dell’s point was that the US must find a way to grow its energy sector in a responsible way. “If you can solve that issue, then there is no reason you shouldn’t want both because growing oil and gas domestically for export helps from a geopolitical standpoint, and it is also a large driver of GDP.” Kimmeridge recently launched Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon offset platform it will seed up to $200 million. According to the firm, “Chestnut will generate high-quality forest carbon offsets that are additional, verifiable and biodiverse to accelerate the path to net zero across a range of industries.” Read it here on PE Hub. And reach out to Obey with your thoughts at obey.m@peimedia.com. Newbie: You know we love tracking first-time fund formation and well-known execs who leave bigger shops and try and carve out their own paths in PE. Along those lines, we have another newbie for ya: Red Iron Group, formed by two ex-Accel-KKR execs, has a debut fund that gives the lower middle market focused shop the flexibility to hold certain assets longer than allowed under traditional PE hold periods. Read more here on Buyouts. And of course, if you know of other first-timers out there, hit me up at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com. We have a growing list of first-time funds to watch that we’ll be highlighting in an upcoming cover feature. That’s it for me! Have a great rest of your day. As always, reach me with tips n’ gossip, feedback or book recommendations at cwitkowsky@buyoutsinsider.com or over on LinkedIn. Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 