The announcement by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System that it plans to sell $3 billion-worth of real estate fund stakes comes at an opportune time for secondaries buyers and intermediaries who have been building teams and raising new dedicated funds targeting the sector.
Facing competitors with deep pockets and inflated valuations, many traditional direct secondaries investors are steering clear of shiny ‘unicorns’.
Discounts don’t necessarily lead to outperformance. So why are so many market participants fixated on them?
Secondaries buyers and sellers are waiting for more clarity on the impact of the fall in oil prices on energy-focused funds, but opportunities remain in some pockets of the market.
Environmental, social and governance issues increasingly prevent LPs from committing to a specific fund, but might they also cause an uptick in secondaries deal flow?
Earlier this month an SEC official speaking at an industry conference signaled the US regulator’s interest in stapled secondary deals. Do they create situations where fiduciary duty may be skirted?
We recently caught up with HarbourVest on why and how it will begin offering secondaries exposure to retail investors.
Repairing pre-crisis partnerships is a $100bn market, but the technical challenges are considerable and best practice remains a work-in-progress.
The need for founder and employee liquidity in small, pre-IPO companies has fuelled specialist secondaries activity since the dotcom-days. But as the market shifts towards employee liquidity programmes, regulators are keen to establish a ‘fair, liquid and transparent’ market.
Complex structures, scale and breaching safe harbours top lawyers’ lists of challenges unique to today’s secondaries market.