Committed Advisors close to cap on third secondary fund

Committed Advisors is just about done raising its third secondary pool on its cap of a bit more than 1 billion euros ($1.05 billion), according to a person familiar with the situation.

Marketing for Fund III, which held a first close in April, has been basically finished for about a month, the person said.

The pool’s original target was 750 million euros. When Fund III will hold an official final close is unclear. The fund has begun investing, the person said.

Committed Advisors targets middle-market secondary opportunities in North America, Europe and emerging markets. In 2015, Committed Advisors opened its New York office, headed by J.B. Stock, and also opened a Singapore office.

The firm closed Fund II on 500 million euros in 2014 and its debut fund on 257 million euros in 2011. Committed chases LP-stake sales, as well as GP-led processes like restructurings. Performance information on the firm’s prior two funds wasn’t immediately available.

Daniel Benin and Barthélémy de Beaupuy launched Committed in 2010 after working at AXA PE (now Ardian). Benin is former co-head of AXA PE’s New York office and Beaupuy was a managing director in AXA PE’s Paris office.

Like the primary market, fundraising for PE secondary funds has been strong. Secondary firms raised the second-highest level of capital, $23 billion across 19 funds, in 2016, data provider Preqin says. Fundraising was driven by megafunds, including Ardian’s seventh secondary fund, which closed on $11 billion.

Already in 2017, two funds have raised $10 billion. That includes Blackstone’s secondary group, Strategic Partners, which raised $7.5 billion for Fund VII.

Action Item: Preqin’s fundraising report: www.preqin.com/docs/press/Secondaries-17.pdf

Arrows stick in a target with a smiley icon during the warmup for the men’s individual archery competition at the 1st European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, on June 22, 2015. Photo courtesy Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach