Lovell Minnick nears close of second fund

Lovell Minnick Partners is set to close on more than $220 million for its second fund, according to a person familiar with the matter. The fund is expected to close on July 31.

The Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.-based firm has been raising Lovell Minnick Equity Partners II since at least March 2005, when it reported in a regulatory filing that it raised $80 million of its $200 million target. Limited partners include Goldman Sachs and TransAmerican Life Insurance Co.

The firm has already invested a portion of the fund. Last September, the firm took over control of ALPS Financial Services Inc., the parent company of administration and distribution services outfit ALPS Mutual Fund Services.

Lovell Minnick targets the global financial services sector with a geographic focus on North America. Portfolio companies include investment management boutiques Arrowstreet Capital, Denali Advisors and Shenandoah Asset Management, and the firm also owns advisory Atlantic Asset Management and UNX Inc., an electronic trading firm, among others.

Created in 2004 by Jeff Lovell and James Minnick, the firm has offices in New York and Los Angeles. The partners built it out of the private equity business of Putnam Lovell Capital Partners and Putnam Lovell NBF Securities, affiliates of the National Bank of Canada. The firm aims to invest between $5 million and $40 million in each company.