BDirect Capital

Business: BDirect is a global financial services company focused exclusively on alternative investments. Operating through various offices and registered subsidiaries, the company combines expertise in investment management, asset structuring, distribution and portfolio servicing to provide a range of alternative asset products and services to institutions, investment professionals, fund managers and investors.

Headquarters: Boston

Founded: March 1999

VC raised to date: $18 million

Capital raised one year ago: $12 million

Investors: Old Mutual PLC

Plans one year ago: The company wanted to beef up its technology platform and work on better managing its call center, and the support services it is supposed to maintain as a licensed broker-dealer. It also had hopes of expanding its business onto the European Continent. Additionally, the firm was looking to add strategic partnerships.

Status: BDirect has since opened an office in London and is getting ready to go live with its newest technology platform in December. The company also has signed partnership agreements with Old Mutual and AIG.

In an effort to change the way institutions view private equity, BDirect Capital and Coastal Capital Partners in September joined forces to securitize private equity portfolios held by institutions. The idea behind their efforts is that many institutions that have exceeded their typically small allocation of private equity investments could efficiently reduce their exposure through securitization. Similarly, institutions interested in gaining some alternative investment exposure could do so in a wide array of rated investments, rather than through conventional private equity.

Fittingly, BDirect is currently raising a Series D private equity round, which is expected to close within the next few weeks.