Secondaries Digest August 2024
Welcome once again to The PE Secondaries Digest. While it’s generally all quiet on the western front during the slower summer months, at Palico we’ve been diligently working behind the scenes on a game-changing development. We're thrilled to share news of a major breakthrough that promises to help us further reshape the private equity secondaries market.
Before we delve into our exciting announcement, it’s important to understand the context of the digitalization wave that continues to sweep the broader PE industry that has set the stage for innovation in secondaries.
The digital wave in private equity
The private equity industry is experiencing a digital transformation across various business functions and operations:
These are just a handful of advancements that are redefining how PE firms can operate more efficiently and effectively.
Secondaries market joins the digital revolution
The secondaries market, traditionally less digitized, is now rapidly catching up. Some of the technologies that are sharpening GPs’ edge in the primary market are now being applied to secondaries. This is perhaps most evident in deal sourcing and valuation modeling. Firms like Clipway , established by former Ardian execs and former Coller Capital data scientists, are employing AI to optimize pricing, sourcing, and management of LP portfolios. By automating and enhancing these processes with AI, Clipway aims to better identify deal opportunities, achieve more accurate pricing, expedite transaction times, and improve overall investment outcomes.
Palico's breakthrough: FINRA approval for online LP secondaries
Now, to our groundbreaking news: Palico has received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to facilitate end-to-end LP secondaries transactions online as an electronic trading system (ETS). This makes us the first and only company to be granted such approval.
Christopher Jeffery , our general manager, explained in a recent article by TechCrunch: "Buyers can easily view available stakes, bid on them, and sellers can choose and conclude deals directly on the platform. It's a streamlined process that brings new efficiency to LP secondaries. Honestly in practice it isn’t too different to how eBay works when you transact on it.” The marketplace is currently used to connect sellers and buyers before deals are taken offline. With our FINRA authorization, US entities will be able to execute the buying and selling of private capital fund interests on a secondary basis. We are now developing the platform to allow the execution of end-to-end LP-led secondary deals, for launch by the end of summer.
Why it matters
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The changing landscape of PE secondaries
This development comes at a crucial time for the private equity secondaries market. As investment horizons lengthen and the composition of LPs and GPs across the private equity spectrum evolves, the need for liquidity and efficient secondary market transactions has grown significantly.
The private equity landscape has become increasingly diverse over the past decade, with a wide range of fund sizes and strategies. This diversification means a broader array of LP stake sizes, and Palico's platform is particularly valuable for LPs of all sizes who may find traditional secondaries brokers challenging to work with due to high fees and large minimum transaction sizes.
We're confident that our platform provides a much-needed solution in the market. As more buyers enter the LP-led secondaries market and LP liquidity needs persist across various fund types and sizes, Palico is well-positioned to meet this growing and diverse demand.
Looking ahead
The secondaries space is poised for significant growth. These transactions currently represent only a small fraction of the overall assets under management in private markets. However, as institutional investors continue to increase their allocations to alternative investments, the volume of aging funds in their portfolios will naturally increase. This trend is likely to drive more activity in the secondaries market as investors seek to manage their private market exposures more actively and strategically.
Palico is committed to leading the charge in digital innovation for the PE secondaries market. We're excited about the possibilities our platform offers and the positive impact it can have on the industry.
Thank you for your continued support and trust in Palico. We look forward to sharing more information as we roll out this important update for our valued clients. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Before you go
Palico aims to provide you with relevant doses of PE insights while doing what we do best: matching buyers with sellers on our secondary marketplace. If you are active or curious about the secondary market, we invite you to register for our email newsletter where you can see deal flow on our marketplace.
Do you want to get in touch directly to talk about how we can help you sell your fund stakes digitally? Contact our team: [email protected]
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