Neuberger Berman raises $2.5b for global secondaries fund

It follows NB Secondary Opportunities III, which closed at the hard cap of $2 billion in November 2013. The mandate is the same: pursuing secondary opportunities in funds, direct investments, co-investments and structured private equity transactions.

The secondaries market has seen a glut of fundraising over the last two years. A total of $17 billion was committed to funds during the first nine months of 2016, compared to full-year totals of $27 billion and $20 billion in 2014 and 2015, according to Preqin. Then in November HarbourVest Partners closed its latest global secondaries fund at $4.8 billion, beating the target of $3.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Greenhill Cogent recorded $12 billion in completed secondary transactions in the first half of last year, the lowest since 2013. Many in the industry see this as a temporary setback born of macroeconomic volatility, and others note that the headline numbers are driven by a small number of very large transactions involving traditional LP positions and do not fully reflect middle market activity.

"Investors appreciate our ability to leverage the global investment sourcing, due diligence and valuation resources of a $255 billion asset management firm, as well as our focus on the secondary middle market and the growing opportunity in GP-led secondary transactions," Brian Talbot and Tristram Perkins, global co-heads of Neuberger's secondary investing group, said in a statement.

The LP base for the fund comprises corporate and public pension plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, family offices and high net worth individuals. Investors come from North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Neuberger manages a range of equity, fixed income, private equity and hedge fund strategies on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors worldwide. A total of $51 billion is deployed and committed in alternatives alone, managed by 117 investment professionals. Within private equity, it covers primaries, co-investments and secondaries, and also acquires minority stakes in GPs.

In January of last year, Neuberger closed its third global private equity co-investment fund at $1.5 billion.

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• Topics
• Secondaries
• Secondaries
• Fundraising
• Neuberger Berman