š Hi, Iām Michael and welcome to my weekly newsletter, the AGM Alts Weekly. Every Sunday, I cover news, trends, and insights on the continuing evolution and innovation in private markets. I share relevant news articles, commentary, an Index of publicly traded alternative asset managers, job openings at private markets firms, and recent podcasts and thought pieces from Alt Goes Mainstream.
Join us to understand whatās going on in alts so you and your firm can stay up to date on the latest trends and navigate this rapidly changing landscape.
Good morning from Frankfurt, where Iām kicking off a multi-week European trip to spend time with LPs, founders, and VCs in Frankfurt, London, and Rome as well as speak at the 0100 Conference in Rome, participate in a roundtable discussion at the Mountside Ventures GP / LP event in London, and co-host a series of dinners on private markets in London.
This weekās news features two noteworthy secondaries fund raises ā Clipway, an ex-Ardian investor, backed by General Atlantic and French asset manager Carmignac, and Lexington Partners.
Does this mean that secondaries come first?
Based on recent fundraising successes from a number of secondaries funds, it would appear that secondaries are very much a primary consideration for LPs in the current market.
And the wealth channel is beginning to feature in a major way, as evidenced by the size of the wealth segmentās commitment to Lexington Partnersā most recent $18B (and heading towards $20B final close) secondaries fund.
Itās no surprise that secondaries are a popular strategy amongst LPs right now. Although global secondary volume declined 25% year over year from 2022 record highs of $57B in H1 2022 (H1 2023 Global Secondary Market Review, Jefferies), the market dynamics of the secondaries space still makes this a fantastic time to be a secondaries buyer. As the below chart from the Jefferies report illustrates, secondaries market transaction volume is markedly higher than prior years.
Discounts for buyers have risen in recent years due to the structural challenges that many institutional LPs face with their current exposure to private markets. LPs are seeking liquidity to rebalance their portfolios versus allocation limits. GPs are also continuing to utilize the secondary market, mainly through continuation vehicles so they can extend liquidity options to limited partners and continue to hold attractive companies so they can capture the remaining value.
Well-capitalized secondaries funds, despite facing more competition from peer funds who have also raised large funds, should be the beneficiaries of the current market dynamic. And LPs realize that. So thereās primary interest in secondaries from both asset managers and allocators alike.
Itās a clear signal that both GPs and LPs view the secondaries market an attractive corner of private markets, but the future will answer an interesting question of whether or not GPs will have to settle for lower discounts as more dollars are now chasing fewer transactions, as the below chart from the Jefferies report reflects.
This market dynamic has led to two interesting trends:
(1) Asset managers are adding secondaries strategies in various ways as firms are looking to provide LPs with secondaries exposure and can grow their AUM as a result. The past few years have witnessed a number of landmark transactions in the secondaries space, $55B AUM (and growing) Lexington Partnersā $1.75B acquisition by Franklin Templeton is no exception. Franklinās acquisition of Lexington signaled that traditional asset managers know they need to add alts capabilities ā and they can add meaningful value to the growth of these alternative asset managers with their distribution capabilities to the wealth channel, as evidenced by the share of private wealth AUM in Lexingtonās most recent $20B flagship secondaries fund. Some firms, like Blackstone and Goldman, have chosen to build secondaries strategies internally. Blackstone has been rewarded for this strategic decision, with their most recent secondaries fund, Strategic Partners IX, raising the largest ever secondaries fund at $22.2B in January of 2023. Other firms are taking stakes into newly formed secondaries funds, as General Atlantic and Carmignac announced this week with Clipway, a manager who spun out of Ardian, which itself is quite a large secondaries investor.
Whether asset managers build, buy, or partner, itās clear that secondaries are a top priority ā and for good reason when they can raise meaningful capital from LPs as the strategy looks to perform well over the current vintages given market dynamics.
(2) Secondaries represent a litmus test for the wealth channelās participation in alts, in some respects.
Once considered an afterthought by LPs because some LPs thought they could go out and make these types of investments themselves rather than pay fees, secondaries funds have risen in prominence due to the complexity and nuance of how a secondaries fund can effectuate liquidity.
Certain secondaries strategies, such as the single-asset continuation vehicle (where GPs move a single asset that they still want to hold into a separate vehicle to afford existing LPs liquidity but not sell the underlying asset itself), has resulted in a huge uptick in deal activity in the secondary space. From H2 2020 to YE 2022, the single-asset continuation market grew 7x and was responsible for almost 65% of the growth in the broader GP-led secondaries market, according to Evercore MD Jim Tilson and VP Mike Selverianās comments in a Buyouts article.
Secondaries would appear to have a number of features that should interest the wealth channel. Secondaries funds, unlike primary funds, are not operating with blind pool assets (meaning they know exactly which assets are in the fund), there should be a reduced J-curve since many or all of the investments from the underlying fund have been made, and given the reduced J-curve, there should be quicker time to realization and distributions for the LPs. All of these qualities seem to mirror what many in the wealth channel are looking for ā quicker path to liquidity, more certainty in closed end vehicles, and strong IRRs. The best secondaries funds are often able to garner meaningful discounts, which often results in the majority of secondaries funds returns being driven by asset appreciation.
With the likes of Lexington Partners joining forces with Franklin Templeton, who has made a concerted effort to unlock the wealth channel for the newest Lexington funds, the big question in my mind has been how much capital the wealth channel will represent in upcoming secondaries fundraises. Since secondaries funds would seem to be a fit for the wealth channel, particularly those who are beginning to enter private markets, this would appear to be a good barometer for how much demand there is from private wealth.
Lexingtonās latest fund provides some answers. Reportedly, 12-15% of their $18B raised came from the private wealth channel. While it may not represent Blackstoneās number of roughly 25% of their $1T AUM coming from the wealth channel, 12-15% represents a relatively sizable LP segment.
For funds looking to work with the wealth channel, these early signs represent promising signals of HNW investors becoming a prominent LP segment for their future funds.
The next question? Will the wealth channel behave like institutional investors and re-up when funds come back in market to raise (provided, of course, fund performance is worthy of a new investment)?
AGM Index
AGM has created an Index to track the leading publicly traded alternative asset managers.
Some of the industryās largest alternative asset managers are publicly traded ā and their net inflows can serve as a window into how private markets are being perceived by investors and allocators who are allocating capital into alternative investments.
AGM News of the Week
Articles we are reading
š General Atlantic and Carmignac back new private equity secondaries firm | Will Louch, Harriet Agnew, and Antoine Gara, Financial Times
š”Asset managers continue their push to own or launch secondaries strategies, with private equity firm General Atlantic and French asset manager Carmignac taking a minority stake in Clipway. Clipway, set up by former Ardian senior investor Vincent Gombault, will see GA and Carmignac both take a minority ownership stake and make LP commitments to the fund, which is aiming to raise $4B. The fund was set up earlier this year and has already raised a quarter of its target fund size. This move follows deals in which some of the largest asset managers, including Ares, Franklin Templeton, and PGIM have all increased their exposure to the secondaries markets through either acquisitions of secondaries funds or launching their own secondaries strategies. Private equity secondaries are going from strength to strength ā the market reached more than $100B last year, doubling since 2017 according to a report by Lazard. Some funds, like Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, have chosen to grow organically in this area. They both raised their largest-ever funds for secondaries deals this year as many institutional investors are looking for liquidity to rebalance their large exposures to private markets. Therefore, itās not a surprise that an investor like Gombault, who boasts two decades of experience working at Ardian, is able to garner meaningful interest for his new fund. As Clipway looks to raise its new fund, Gombaultās old firm, Ardian, is seeking to raise a monster $25B fund focused on secondaries. The Paris-based firm, run by Dominique Senequier, raised $19B in 2020 for the same strategy.
šø AGMās 2/20: In the current market, secondaries appear to be coming first. Thereās clear LP demand for secondaries strategies as the supply/demand dynamics in the market favor secondaries investors. Whatās newsworthy about this partnership is that it represents the continued trend of asset managers looking to gain exposure to secondaries strategies either by taking stakes in secondaries funds, acquiring them, or launching the strategy in-house. As the drumbeat of alternative asset managers expanding their platforms horizontally across strategies continues, we will likely see more asset managers play in the secondaries market ā because itās an attractive investment proposition in the current environment and because the strategy can help grow AUM. Itās also worth noting that secondaries strategies may also serve as an entry point into alts for many investors in the wealth channel. Some of the features of secondaries strategies ā no blind pool, reduced J-curve, and theoretically quicker distributions ā would appear to align well with many of the features that wealth managers, at least in many of my anecdotal conversations, look for in closed-end funds. When the secondaries fundraises are all said and done, it will be interesting to see how much of the recent secondaries raises came from the wealth channel.
š Lexington nears $20B finish line for largest-ever flagship | Carmela Mendoza, Secondaries Investor
š”In other big secondaries fundraising news, Lexington Partners is set to wrap up fundraising for what will be its second largest ever vehicle for the strategy. Lexington Partners, which was acquired in September 2021 by Franklin Templeton for $1.75B, is expected to hold a final close on their 10th flagship secondaries vehicle at $20B. Theyāve already raised $18B as of July, surpassing the $15B target. This fund comes in significantly higher than the predecessor fund from 2020, which closed on $14B. Interestingly, this current fund is the first vintage in which Lexington is understood to have had a concerted effort raising capital from the private wealth market. Reportedly, 12-15% ($2-2.7B) of the capital gathered thus far of the fund has come from non-institutional investors, which is a marked increase from prior funds. The Franklin acquisition is likely to be a major driver behind Lexingtonās push ā and success ā in the wealth channel. This affiliation has meant more engagement with some of the largest private banks, wire houses, independent broker dealers, and RIAs. Lexington has also received a number of large commitments from institutional investors, including $600M from Cathay Life Insurance, $100M from Minnesota State Board of Investment and Fubon Life Insurance, and $90M from the New York City Police Pension Fund. If Lexington successfully closes on $20B, it would come in slightly behind Blackstoneās Strategic Partners Fund IX, which closed on $22.2B in January 2023.
šø AGMās 2/20: Secondaries are clearly on the mind of LPs and GPs. As I mentioned above, the interesting datapoint with the large secondaries raises is how much is coming from the private wealth channel. Lexington Partners provides some window into the amount of capital coming from the wealth channel ā and it is far from insignificant. 12-15% of a ~$20B fund is a meaningful portion of the LP base. If multi-billion dollar funds can consistently raise 10-20% of their LP capital from the wealth channel, it will begin to signal that the wealth community can be a sizable LP segment for funds. Thatās step one. Step two will be to see if they re-up to future funds (assuming performance meets their standards) and become a consistent multi-fund LP just as many institutional investors often have.
š Private Market Investors Say Capital Influx āChanging the Gameā of Sports | Jessica Hamlin, PitchBook
š”The buzz surrounding private market investments in sports continued this week at the Greenwich Economic Forum, an annual conference of institutional investors and asset managers. George Pyne, CEO of sports and media PE firm Bruin Capital, and Wyc Grousbeck, Owner and CEO of the NBAās Boston Celtics, said the sports ecosystem is ripe for continued investment from fund managers across private asset classes. Private markets already possess a significant foothold in professional sports. Per PitchBook, 63 major North American sports teams valued at a total of $206B have PE connections. Various professional leagues have eased team ownership structure rules in recent years, and investors have identified opportunities for strong returns. Pyne and Grousbeck both said they expect the flow of private capital into professional sports to accelerate, pointing to the continued growth of sports-focused PE firms Arctos Partners and Dynasty Equity. Arctos, which has become increasingly well-known in recent months, has reported a 69% increase to $6.6B in its AUM year-over-year. Still, Pyne said the financing of sports investments is generally āunsophisticated,ā meaning deals are financed primarily with equity and cash. The prevalence of simple deal structures is due partially to private capitalās infancy in the space. Several leagues also place debt limitations on sales of team interests and require approval for all leveraged deals. While restrictions have loosened, they have so far inhibited creative financing structures. As more investors from PE, VC, growth and additional asset classes enter the sector, itās likely that weāll see more deals financed with structured equity, which combines elements of equity and debt, Pyne added. The recent success of sports investment firms is a direct product of mounting interest from LPs, which has in turn impacted the leagues. Saudi Arabiaās PIF financed a deal to combine the PGA, the European Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf in the most widely publicized sports-related investment in some time. āThe influxes of capital are changing the game,ā Pyne said. Both Pyne and Grousbeck also said they see more investment opportunities in womenās professional sports going forward.Ā
šø AGMās 2/20: Pyne and Grousbeckās talk on sports at the recent Greenwich Economic Forum highlights some key questions for the future of sports and investing. As interest from private equity funds continues to increase, there are a number of questions for leagues, teams, players, and investors to grapple with.
First is professionalization of sports as a business. Many private equity firms are looking at the business side of sport ā this means that leagues and teams must find ways to professionalize as businesses. After all, private equity is about generating returns for investors and as more funds get into the game, the scoreboard will be the returns.
Second is more unique financing structures. The sports space seeing sector specific funds like Arctos, Dynasty Equity, and others crop up is beneficial for the continued growth and professionalization of sports as an asset class. I expect weāll see more alternative asset managers follow Ares and Avenue Capital to create sports specific funds and investment strategies beyond equity. Private credit / lending strategies in the sports space seem particularly interesting both for teams and investors and in some respects make for a less complicated investor-team relationship than equity ownership does.
Third is weāll start to see increased focus on different sports. Pyne and Grousbeckās comment on more investment opportunities in womenās professional sports may have been reserved for the last line in the PitchBook article, but it may have been one of the most interesting. Womenās sports represents one of the biggest investable opportunities in the industry. Certainly there are more greenfield opportunities as leagues are younger and earlier on in their lifecycles than some of the menās sports. But we canāt forget that women represent a large portion of household / consumer spending ā and female athletes have an uncanny ability to connect with their fans via social media. This opportunity will not go unnoticed, certainly by institutional investors. Sixth Street Partners, a $60B+ AUM asset manager that spun out of TPG, recently invested into the NWSLās Bay FC, the womenās expansion soccer team in the Bay Area. Sixth Streetās CEO Alan Waxman told Sportico in April after they closed their investment: āEverything that indicates something is structurally undervalued was flashing green, on every vector. Thereās a bigger structural trend here, where the economics have not yet caught up with reality. The data is just popping off the page.ā So this week, when NWSL franchise values were released and the average club value is $66M just years after investors bought into San Diego Wave for a $2M expansion fee, itās hard to ignore the massive potential of womenās sports as an investment ā¦ because itās good business. [You can listen to Angel City President & Co-Founder Julie Uhrman discuss why womenās sports is good business and how Angel City has changed the game in the way theyāve built their club on the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast here].
Four is leagues and teams (and investors) leveraging players as the center of fan engagement. Social media has unlocked the ability for playersā reach to transcend that of leagues and teams in certain instances. Global superstar soccer players Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have brought massive amounts of followers, fan engagement, sponsorships, jersey and ticket sales, and earned media to their new teams and leagues, in large part due to their global reach and massive social media followings. The most recent example of how sports is blending with entertainment can be found in the NFL, with Chiefsā Tight End Travis Kelceās new relationship with singer Taylor Swift bringing in a whole new set of fans who may have been āSwiftiesā but are only now taking an interest in the NFL due to Taylor Swiftās newfound connection to the league. It appears that the NFL is leaning into this, which is likely a sign that itās very good for business.
š Wellington Will Offer Alternative Investments on iCapital Platform | Michael Thrasher, Institutional Investor
š” Institutional Investorās Michael Thrasher reports that $1.1T asset manager Wellington Management is continuing its focus on growing its alternative investments business. Wellington, primarily known for its public equity and fixed income investment strategies that have enabled the firm to grow to over $1T of AUM, has been shifting focus to grow its alts business. Today, Wellington boasts $32B in hedge fund and private equity assets across more than 35 strategies. They also have a fintech fund that invests into both public and private companies. Wellingtonās alternatives investments unit is getting a distribution and infrastructure boost globally by partnering with iCapital, the $166B fintech company that provides infrastructure for the wealth management, banking, and asset management industries to facilitate access to private markets investments for HNW clients via end-to-end technology and service solutions. Wellingtonās partnership with iCapital should continue its reach both globally and into the wealth channel as the HNW community continues to look for exposure to private markets. Wellington recognizes that alternatives are a strategic priority for many wealth managers. āAlternative investments are a strategic priority for our wealth management partners,ā said Cindy Marrs, head of global wealth management at Wellington. āDelivering our investment solutions in an efficient and accessible manner is a key part of helping our end beneficiaries meet their financial goals.ā The partnership with iCapital looks to boost the distribution of Wellingtonās strategies in North America as well as markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.
šø AGMās 2/20: Wellingtonās continued focus on alts hammers home a number of points, but possibly none bigger than the ongoing trend of traditional asset managers continuing to add alternatives capabilities. In recent years, weāve started to see many traditional asset managers look to add alternative investment strategies and funds to their platforms. This is certainly in response to the demand side ā wealth managers and HNW clients want increased exposure to alts, which is forcing asset managers to answer the bell. When multi-trillion dollar asset managers like Wellington and Franklin Templeton, who acquired secondaries firm Lexington Partners for $1.75B and real estate private equity firm Clarion Partners, are making big moves in alts, itās hard not to take notice. The other notable item from this news is that the partnership between Wellington and iCapital drives home the point that asset managers will have to determine how to best engage with the wealth channel. There are an increasing number of ways in which asset managers can interface with the wealth community as they look to distribute their products through this channel ā some may choose to build their infrastructure in house, while others may choose to partner with firms like iCapital. The fact that a firm of Wellingtonās size and scale chose to partner speaks volumes about the operational and administrative burden that many firms will face by trying to do this in house. Not to say that it canāt be done, and some do, but it sure isnāt easy. Iām excited to see how the provision of technology and infrastructure continues to evolve as asset managers and wealth managers look to find the most efficient and cost-effective ways to serve their clients.
Reports we are reading
š The Definitive Guide to Venture Capital Fund-of-Funds | Jonathan Hollis, Mountside Ventures
š”In advance of their London event on October 10th for fund managers and LPs, Mountside Ventures released their inaugural Venture Capital Fund-of-Fund Report this week, which this year reported data and insights from 104 FoFs which plan to deploy Ā£35B ($42.5B) of AUM into VC funds over the next three years.
Fund-of-funds can play a critical role in enabling LPs to access venture capital in a diversified way and can help VC funds, sometimes emerging managers, raise capital from an institutional investor cohort.
Itās the first comprehensive analysis of VC FoFs, and builds upon Mountside Venturesā 2020 Report: "The Capital Behind Venture: 2020." The goal of the report is to increase transparency in the VC and LP ecosystem by providing a guide for LPs on how their peers think about investing.
Some highlights are below (taken from the article that Mountside Ventures Founder Jonathan Hollis wrote here):
A Fund-of-Fund (FoF), also known as a multi-manager investment fund, invests in a portfolio of other investment funds rather than a portfolio of companies. In VC, there are five types of FoFs:
Generalist FoFs invest in a number of different types of funds, including hedge funds, private equity, venture capital or real estate.
VC-Specific FoFs invest in VC funds and their underlying portfolio.
Public FoFs generally invest in VCs using taxpayer money. The two types of public FoFs are domestic FoFs, which invest to support the economy, and Sovereign Wealth Funds, which invest for financial returns.
Retail FoFs pool retail money (small tickets) together and invest fund-by-fund (like deal-by-deal).
VC Funds Investing in Other VC Funds principally invest in startups but also invest in other funds for increased deal flow and diversification.
Benefits of investing in FoFs include financial returns, access to emerging managers and co-investments, diversification, and education. Drawbacks include illiquid assets, higher management fees, and portfolio bias.
FoFs invest in VCs based on, in order of importance, historical financial returns, diversification, contribution to the venture ecosystem, deal flow for later stage rounds, and education and market intelligence. 46% of respondents cited track record as the most important criterion, significantly more than any other answer. Around half of FoFs have geographic, sector-specific, or size-related restrictions for investments.
Every year, 14,000 VC decks are screened and 9,000 VCs are interviewed, leading to 740 investments. FoFs want to engage VCs as early as possible in the fundraising cycle and know the investor 1-2 years before committing. Ā
Emerging VC managers, because of their sector expertise, track record, and differentiated strategy, constitute a significant proportion of a FoFās investments. 85% of respondents had invested in that sector in the last three years, 44% of them as cornerstone investors.
Like VCs themselves, many FoFs take an active role in the portfolio of the VCs they back. FoFs are most interested in regular communication and accurate reports, followed by access to co-investment opportunities, thought leadership, and a seat on the LP Advisory Committee.
FoFsā biggest frustrations with VCs are, in order of importance, lack of differentiation, poor relationship building, and dishonesty. FoFs would also like to see an improved regulatory environment for non-EU investors.
Luxembourg continues to be the preferred jurisdiction for LPs.
1 in 4 FoFs have a requirement towards diversity investing, with women and ethnic minorities being the most sought-after groups due to positive change in the ecosystem, better returns, and better governance.
Who is hiring?
In order for alts to continue to go mainstream, we need the best talent to go into the space. Here are some openings at private markets firms. If youād like to connect with any of these teams, let me know and Iām happy to facilitate an introduction if appropriate. If youāre a company or fund in private markets, feel free to reach out to share a job description youād like to be listed here to highlight for the Alt Goes Mainstream community.
š bunch (Private markets infrastructure investment platform & SPV infrastructure) - Head of Commercial. Click here to learn more.
š iCapital (Private markets infrastructure investment platform) - Midwest, Regional Director, Senior Vice President. Click here to learn more.
š Republic (Multi-strategy alternative investment platform) - Chief Technology Officer. Click here to learn more.
š Isomer Capital (European VC fund of funds) - Investor, Secondaries. Click here to learn more.
The latest on Alt Goes Mainstream
Recent episodes and blog posts on Alt Goes Mainstream:
š„ Watch Marc Penkala, Co-Founder & Partner at Altitude, and I do a first-of-a-kind live podcast on EUVC. EUVC, the leading podcast championing European venture and fund syndicate platform, brought together one of their portfolio GPs, Marc Penkala of Altitude, and me for a VC / LP pitch session. Watch here.
š„ Watch Lawrence Calcano, Chairman & CEO at iCapital, and I take the pulse of private markets on the fourth episode of our monthly show, the Monthly Alts Pulse. Watch here.
š Hear the incredible story of ātechās most unlikely venture capitalist,ā Pejman Nozad, Co-Founder & Founding Managing Partner of Pear VC, on how theyāve built a seed investing powerhouse. Listen here.
š Hear sustainable investments pioneer Bill Orum, Partner of $9B AUM OCIO Capricorn Investment Group, discuss how Capricorn has proven that doing well and doing good donāt have to be mutually exclusive. Listen here.
š Hear wealth management industry titan Haig Ariyan, CEO of Arax Investment Partners, share his thoughts on the private equity opportunity in wealth management and why the intersection of wealth and alts is one of the biggest trends in private markets. Listen here.
š Hear investing legends John Burbank and Ken Wallace of Nimble Partners provide a masterclass on investing with a macro lens from Johnās background as a leading macro hedge fund manager at Passport Capital and on micro VC from Kenās background backing some of the top emerging VCs at Industry Ventures. Listen here.
š Hear $40B AUM Cresset Co-Founder & Co-Chairman Avy Stein and Director of Private Capital Jordan Stein live from the Allocate Beyond Summit discuss how private markets are changing wealth management. Listen here.
š Hear Alto CEO Eric Satz discuss how anyone can invest in alternatives through their IRA. Listen here.
š Read how 73 Strings CEO & Co-Founder Yann Magnan and team are leveraging AI to build a modern and holistic monitoring and valuation platform for private markets in The AGM Q&A. Read here.
š Hear $18B AUM Savant Wealthās award-winning CIO Phil Huber talk about how LPs can build a strategy for investing in private markets. Listen here.
š Hear Avlok Kohli, AngelListās CEO, talk about how they are building the company of companies that is powering private markets. Listen here.
š Hear Seyonne Kang, Partner and member of the private equity team at $134B AUM StepStone, discuss how the VC industry is dealing with todayās venture market. Listen here.
š Hear Chris Ailman, the CIO of $307B CalSTRS, discuss how he manages a portfolio with ~40% exposure to private markets. Listen here.
š Hear Robert Picard, Head of Alternatives at $117B AUM Hightower, approaches alternative investments. Listen here.
Thank you for reading. If you like the Alts Weekly, please share it with your friends, colleagues, and anyone interested in private markets.
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Special thanks to Michael Rutter and Nick Owens for their contributions to the newsletter.