Happy Fri-yay, Hubsters! It’s Aaron here on the Wire, your favorite new tradition to close out the week. Healthcare deals. I know deal activity has slowed (blame it on the economy and the summer season), but it seems like the healthcare sector is just a different animal these days. One case in point: Yesterday, NaviMed Capital agreed to sell Massachusetts-based The CM Group, a domestic medical communications firm, to London’s OPEN Health. We have seen so much consolidation in the healthcare sector and yet, there is clearly more to be done. It is all about relationships, and that goes for almost any industry. Speaking of relationships, I am always looking to connect with and expand my list of sources. If you want to talk about what you are seeing out there in this crazy market and/or want to talk about PE healthcare investing – I am your reporter! Feel free to email me at aaron.w@peimedia.com Fundraising fall-out. Private Equity International’s Carmela Mendoza recently reported that PE fundraising saw a $122 billion drop-off in the first half of the year. Read the entire story here. Most trusted. Buyouts’ editor Chris Witkowsky recently wrote about how PE giants such as Blackstone are actually benefitting from scared and skittish limited partners who are trying to insulate from the volatile economy by mostly sticking with the most trusted GPs. Blackstone’s fundraising pace is illustrative of firms that are able to push through market volatility and slowing pace of fundraising to hit ambitious targets. The key, top GPs say, are LPs who concentrate their capital with them, wrote Chris. Read the entire story here. In case you missed it. PE Hub’s assistant reporter intern Tara Lindenbaum recently caught up with some past and present winners of PE Hub’s and Buyouts’ women in PE. We have selected 60 dealmakers over the years, and Tara spent her summer with us diligently getting in touch and trying to see where they are now and what they are up to. Tara spoke with Suzanne Yoon, founder and managing partner of Kinzie Capital in a wide-ranging Q&A, here are some excerpts: Who were your mentors? Private equity is an apprentice business. I have since had many great mentors and executives who have had an enormous impact on my career and who I am today. Some of them are actually on my board and work with me today. My entire advisory board has been amazing for me, including Norm Bobins, Chris McGowan, Linda Myers, Marc Simon, Rebecca Balyasny, and then even Peter Schwab. He is my partner today, but I used to work for Peter 20 years ago at EY. He has always inspired me because he’s been able to build world-class teams several times in his career, and we are really fortunate to have him every day at the firm. Read the entire story here. Tara’s internship ends today, and we thank her for her great work on women in PE this summer and wish her luck as she returns to Washington University for her junior year! On behalf of the entire PE Hub, PE Hub Europe and Buyouts teams, we thank you for your hard work! That is a wrap for me! After spending yesterday afternoon on a boat in the New York Harbor with my PEI Group colleagues, this weekend I am going to be soaking up the sun and hanging out on the Jersey Shore for the first time. I will be out and about around Long Branch and hitting up the Monmouth County fair later today and I for one, am grateful that the heat wave is over! Until next week… Cheers, Aaron Read the full wire commentary on PE Hub ... | 