GenSpring plans FoF, direct equity fund

GenSpring Family Offices expects to begin raising money from its network of wealthy families for two new vehicles, a fund of funds and a direct equity fund, by the end of the year.

The funds are slated to have a combined target of $150 million, according to Ted Mayden, who heads the private equity investment team of the Palm Beach, Fla.-based firm. The two new funds had not been named as of press time, but will be the first ones marketed under the GenSpring name. The firm was known, up until September, as Asset Management Advisors (AMA).

The fund of funds would be earmarked for large buyout funds, lower middle-market LBO shops and distressed-oriented vehicles. “As our pool of capital grows we’ll be getting more involved in things like mezzanine, venture and emerging markets,” said Mayden.

The direct equity fund would allow GenSpring families to invest either alongside other equity sponsors or as the sole institutional equity in a growth capital investment, he added. GenSpring invests on behalf of more than 420 families and has more than $12 billion in assets under management, according to its website.

Mayden joined the firm earlier this year, when he and the rest of the fund of funds team from SunTrust Equity Partners, which managed money for SunTrust Banks Inc., left the bank to form AMA’s first dedicated private equity group.

In September, the firm closed on a combined $150 million for AMA Private Equity Fund of Funds 2007 and AMA Private Equity Direct Fund 2007. Of that $150 million, between 60% and 70% is expected to be deployed in buyouts, half of which will be done through co-investments. —Joshua Payne