🎧 Episode #74: Emerging Managers: What It Takes to Make It

Guests: Kim Pochon (Unigestion) & Joe Briggs (BCF )

Series Launch: Fund Shack's Emerging Manager Series

In this launch episode of Fund Shack’s Emerging Manager Series, Ross Butler speaks with Kim Pochon, Global Head of Primary Investments at Unigestion, and Joe Briggs, Founder of BCF, to explore what it really takes to build a successful first-time private equity fund.

With LP appetite growing for new franchises, this episode unpacks the strategic, structural, and psychological factors that separate enduring platforms from short-lived experiments.

🧱 Why “Emerging” Doesn’t Mean Inexperienced
Most “emerging managers” are seasoned investors; what’s new is their journey into firm-building. While GPs may dislike the label, it matters deeply to LPs allocating to this segment.

💡 Early Access = Long-Term Advantage
Backing a first-time fund is about more than returns, it’s about gaining long-term partners. Kim Pochon shares how Unigestion’s early bets have evolved into deep collaborations across continuation vehicles, co-investments, and secondaries.

🛠️ The Rise of Independent Sponsors and Hybrid Funds
Joe Briggs outlines how deal-by-deal models, mini-funds, and short-duration strategies are allowing first-time managers to build track records and LP trust, without raising blind pool capital on Day 1.

👥 Team Dynamics: The Critical Risk Factor
Strategy is important, but people matter more. LPs scrutinise equity splits, decision-making processes, and team chemistry. Execution risk is often people risk.

🔥 Why Founders Spin Out, and What Sets Them Apart
From high-paid roles to high-risk launches, Joe and Kim explore what drives professionals to strike out on their own, and why the best emerging managers have a clear purpose and strong conviction.

📈 “Know Why You Deserve to Exist”
As Briggs puts it, emerging GPs must clearly articulate why their platform should exist, what differentiates it, and how it delivers value to LPs from Day 1.

🔗 Fund Shack is an independent podcast serving the global private capital industry.

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