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Single-asset continuation funds have surged in popularity in recent years. While the technology isn't new, it took persistence from secondaries market advisers to show both private equity managers and buyers that vehicles associated with the moniker 'zombie funds' could be used to keep hold of star-performing assets. Last year, single-asset continuation fund vehicles took out the largest share of GP-led transactions, accounting for around 39 percent of the $48 billion of volume seen in this part of the market, according to a year-end report from Lazard. There was "some reluctance" from secondaries buyers when conversations around single-asset continuation fund transactions began, Harold Hope, global head of secondaries at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told Secondaries Investor. "We traditionally bought portfolios. Sometimes they were concentrated portfolios, but they were always portfolios." Today, these vehicles allow Goldman Sachs "to mitigate some of the broader risk that we face when we buy a diversified portfolio," Hope said, adding that the team is "excited about the opportunities" globally. In this third episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing podcast miniseries to celebrate the 10 years since Secondaries Investor launched, we sit down with Hope and Holcombe Green, global head of Lazard’s private capital advisory business. They discuss how continuation fund technology was developed over time to facilitate single-asset continuation funds, and how large this pocket of the market could become as more capital is allocated to the area. For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.

What's in a name? The process of moving an asset or assets from an existing private markets fund into a separate structure has been happening for some time now – some say as early as 2006 and possibly even prior to that. The so-called 'continuation fund' market was worth around $40 billion last year, according to advisory estimates. Yet, this market was not always seen as a positive and constructive tool with which fund sponsors could deliver liquidity, via an option, while retaining their hold over prized assets. In the second episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries to celebrate the 10 years since Secondaries Investor launched, we sit down with Nigel Dawn, head of private capital advisory at investment bank Evercore, and Verdun Perry, global head of Blackstone's Strategic Partners group, to discuss the evolution of the continuation fund market over the past decade and what's in store for how this tool will continue to be used. For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here. See the PEI 300 here. Read "Single-asset CVs offer steadier returns than buyout funds – Evercore Read "How do continuation funds really perform?" Read "More LPs seek to back secondaries funds"

In this episode of Second Thoughts, our bi-monthly take on the biggest trends and developments in secondaries, Secondaries Investor's Madeleine Farman, Adam Le and Hannah Zhang cut through the headline figures in 2023's advisory reports to break down geographic trends and key themes in the market. Total deal volume sat somewhere in the region of $109 billion to $115 billion in 2023 with LP-led volume making up $56 billion to $66 billion. Farman, Le and Zhang delve into topics including APAC secondaries market activity, structured liquidity offerings such as NAV loans, preferred equity and GP commit financing, and the popularity of multi-asset continuation funds as managers seek to find ways to generate DPI for LPs.

In this episode of Second Thoughts, our bi-monthly take on the biggest trends and developments in secondaries, Ardian's co-head of secondaries and primaries Vladimir Colas makes a bold prediction for the secondaries market: the first private equity fundraise to breach the $30 billion mark will be a secondaries vehicle. LP portfolios being brought to market are only growing in size, and if they could, sellers would be offloading even larger portfolios. However, secondaries activity is still constrained by the amount of capital available to deploy into these transactions. Colas sat down with senior reporter Madeleine Farman to discuss how large the secondaries market could become in the near future, as well as how many new entrants Ardian expects to break into the secondaries market in 2024 and beyond.

Jeff Hammer, global co-head of secondaries at Manulife Investment Management, discusses issues from moral hazard in continuation funds to the ethics of stapled deals with senior editor Adam Le.

In this latest episode of Second Thoughts, our bi-monthly take on the biggest trends and developments in secondaries, the spotlight is on our yearly ranking of the top secondaries firms globally. Blackstone Strategic Partners has topped this year's SI 50 ranking published by Secondaries Investor and Private Equity International, raising $51.3 billion across funds that closed between 1 January 2018 and 30 June 2023. Senior reporter Madeleine Farman speaks with global head Verdun Perry, discussing the state of the secondaries market, what Strategic Partners is looking for in opportunities currently, and some of the key moments across Perry's career.

Presenting the second instalment of Second Thoughts, a special series from Secondaries Investor that delves into the latest trends affecting the fastest-growing market in alternatives.

Presenting the first instalment of Second Thoughts, a special series from Secondaries Investor that delves into the latest trends affecting the fastest-growing market in alternatives.

We catch up with William Greene, managing partner at Stafford Capital Partners, to discuss why some LPs are parting ways with stakes in infra funds and how big this market could become.