GP-led secondaries investments

Our GP-led secondaries strategies can offer sponsors custom capital solutions while providing investors who are willing to commit flexible solutions oriented capital access to prized portfolio companies at attracted risk-adjusted returns.


 

Why secondaries?

 

Across the industry, private equity primary fund commitments represent the feedstock of an ever-expanding secondaries market—which has grown by a factor of roughly 80 over the past two decades, with annual transaction volume now exceeding $130 billion.¹ Today, the secondaries market has become widely acknowledged for its unique value proposition of investing in seasoned assets, with historically consistent cash flows, high internal rates of return (IRRs), and attractive multiples on invested capital (MOICs). 

Access to high-quality sponsors and their investments in portfolio companies of varying maturity

Mitigation of J-curve by favoring investments in assets over blind pool commitments

Diversification by sector, manager, and vintage year through thoughtful and deliberate portfolio construction2

Five misconceptions about the GP-led secondaries market

Jeff Hammer, global co-head of secondaries at Manulife Investment Management, discusses issues from moral hazard in continuation funds to the ethics of stapled deals with Adam Le, senior editor at PEI.

Learn more

Search for alpha in the secondaries market sparks LP interest

Our global co-heads of secondaries Paul Sanabria and Jeff Hammer met with Secondaries Investor to explain how their strategy differentiates from other buyers, and where they see the most attractive opportunities in the GP-led secondaries market.

Learn more

1 https://www.secondariesinvestor.com/deal-volume-topped-130bn-last-year-say-jefferies-greenhill/. 2 Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss in any market.

GP-led secondaries turn liquidity into investable opportunity

While traditional secondaries investments emerged as a liquidity mechanism for private equity fund limited partners (LPs), today’s secondaries market has also developed into an important portfolio management solution for GPs. GP-led secondaries have key characteristics that distinguish them from traditional LP secondaries investments.

How GP-led investments differ from traditional LP secondaries

The sponsor initiates the investment

GP-led secondaries allow a sponsor to extend ownership of successful investments by transferring assets from an existing fund into a new continuation fund.

Concentration is higher

The underlying asset concentration within the continuation fund is often significantly greater than for most LP secondaries investments.

Complexity is greater

GP-led secondaries investments can take months, involving advisors, competitive price discovery, term negotiations, and securing LP consent.

Flow chart depicting a transfer of select assets from portfolio companies to a new continuation fund For illustrative purposes only.

GP-led secondaries offer new benefits to private equity allocators

GP-led secondaries represent a potentially attractive proposition for sponsors, legacy fund LPs, and new secondaries investors. Sponsors get to extend ownership of successful investments, legacy fund LPs can realize liquidity or maintain exposure, and new secondaries investors get to participate in the upside of seasoned, hard-to-access portfolio companies, which afford the potential benefits of:

Better portfolio construction

While traditional LP secondaries tend to involve interests of bundled and amalgamated exposures, GP-led solutions enable investment managers to build targeted portfolios with desired company, sector, geographical, maturity, and risk/return exposures.

Higher return opportunities

The emergence of GP-led secondaries has changed the risk/return proposition for secondaries, putting greater emphasis on higher MOIC rather than the traditional LP secondaries focus on IRR.

More aligned investments

Rather than the zero-sum dynamic of traditional LP secondaries, GP-led secondaries allow investors to sit on the same side of the table as the sponsor, who also has meaningful capital at risk.

GP-led secondaries can shorten duration and improve risk/return

Chart depicting multiple on invested capital and internal rate of return for investents and secondary assets

Source: Manulife Investment Management, June 30, 2022. Return (MOIC and IRR) ranges are based on the subjective views of the authors and are subject to change. For illustrative purposes only.

What sets us apart

Differentiated, sponsor-centric platform

Our presence across private equity and credit markets for direct and primary investments creates sourcing, underwriting, and access advantages for secondaries investment opportunities.

Premium return potential

By focusing exclusively on GP-led secondaries investments, we seek premium returns over traditional LP secondaries.

Dedicated secondaries team headed by leaders in GP-led solutions

Our secondaries co-heads have worked together since 1998 and built multiple secondaries platforms at leading franchises. 

Our portfolio

We embrace carefully underwritten, relatively concentrated positions while maintaining a degree of diversification for risk management and resilience. We invest in sector-leading companies backed by high-quality sponsors.

$552M

in committed capital3

18

investments

23

sponsors

We look for opportunities to

Partner with like-minded investors

Provide liquidity where demand exceeds supply

Pursue premium returns for our clients

3 Represents investments made by the Secondaries Team on behalf of the Manulife investors since inception of the secondaries program in 2020.

Secondaries capital solutions

Secondary capital works toward specific financial objectives. Our investment in GP-led secondaries transactions can help sponsors achieve liquidity while extending holding periods, restructuring, and procuring new capital commitments for growth initiatives. Transaction formats vary but aim to allow sponsors to retain control of preferred assets, with limited partners receiving liquidity options for older assets. We support transactions with the following characteristics.

Assets

Stability and growth of revenue and profits, clear value proposition and market positioning, and favorable industry and competitive dynamics, all pointing toward multiple paths to a successful outcome

Sponsor

Stable platform, relevant operational and industry expertise, demonstrated track record, and a clear value-creation plan for each asset

Deal dynamics

Existence of potential price arbitrage, information or relationship advantage, good co-investors, challenging underwriting complexity or timeline

Alignment

GP with meaningful capital at risk, including rolled participation but often new capital; incentive structure that tries to ensure GP behavior benefits both the new secondaries investors as well as the GP

Our team

Our seasoned secondaries investment team focuses exclusively on GP-led secondaries. Representing a range of disciplines, specialized skill sets, and professional backgrounds, the team draws on extensive industry experience gained at major secondaries platforms, investment advisors, and investment banks.

Jeff Hammer

Senior Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Secondaries

Jeff joined Manulife Investment Management in 2019 as global co-head of secondaries. Along with Paul Sanabria, Jeff leads the global secondaries business focused on general partner-led and special situation transactions, and partners with private equity, private credit, and secondary fund sponsors. Previously, he was co-head of Houlihan Lokey’s illiquid financial assets practice, a unit he co-founded and built into the leading investment banking group focused on customized transactions for holders of illiquid securities. Prior to that role, Jeff was a senior managing director at Bear Stearns, where he founded, built, and co-led Private Equity Advisors, the private equity fund-of-funds and secondary investing unit of Bear Stearns Asset Management. Earlier, he co-founded BDC Financial, a firm that provided customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional and high-net-worth investors. Earlier in his career, he held investment banking positions at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

  • Education: A.B. in Politics, Princeton University; M.B.A., Harvard University
  • Joined the company: 2019
  • Began career: 1985
Jeff Hammer

Paul Sanabria

Senior Managing Director, Global Co-Head of Secondaries

Paul joined Manulife Investment Management in 2019 as global co-head of secondaries. Along with Jeff Hammer, Paul leads the global secondaries business focused on general partner-led and special situation transactions, and partners with private equity, private credit, and secondary fund sponsors. Previously, he was co-head of Houlihan Lokey’s illiquid financial assets practice, a unit he co-founded and built into the leading investment group focused on customized transactions for holders of illiquid securities. Prior to that role, Paul was a senior managing director at Bear Stearns, where he acquired and led the private funds group responsible for originating new third-party fundraising mandates. In addition, he founded and co-led the private equity fund and secondary investing unit. Earlier, he co-founded BDC Financial, a firm that provided customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional and high-net-worth investors.

  • Education: B.S. in Engineering, California State University-Sacramento; M.B.A., Harvard University
  • Joined the company: 2019
  • Began career: 1985
Paul Sanabria

Related viewpoints

The keys to success in GP-led secondaries deals

What are the ingredients of a successful GP-led secondaries deal? Paul Sanabria believes in a sound framework that thoroughly analyzes the assets, sponsors, alignment, and secondary deal dynamics—and that the devil lies in the details.
Read more

Five misconceptions about the GP-led secondaries market

Jeff Hammer, global co-head of secondaries, sits down with Adam Le, senior editor at PEI, to debunk five controversial statements about the secondaries market.
Read more

4 reasons GP-led secondaries are here to stay

GP-led secondaries emerged from obscurity a decade ago to claim half of today’s private equity secondary market. Learn why they’ll play a big role in the future.
Read more

GP-led secondaries and continuation vehicles: myths and realities

Continuation vehicles—instruments for implementing GP-led secondaries—remain a misunderstood market innovation, and we address some of the most prevailing myths.
Read more

GP-led secondaries: new tools for the private equity allocator

GP-led secondaries represent a new approach to private equity, joining direct investments, co-investments, and fund commitments as a key route into the asset class.
Read more

Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Contact us

John (Jay) D. Jarrett Jr.

Managing Director, Business Development and Investor Relations, Private Equity and Credit

617-572-4594 | jdjarrett@jhancock.com

Leigha Schuessler

Managing Director, Business Development and Investor Relations, Private Equity and Credit

857-205-9422 | lhaynes@jhancock.com

Elizabeth Mingle

Managing Director, Business Development and Investor Relations, Private Equity and Credit

617-459-2937 | emingle@jhancock.com

Sean C. Gannon

Managing Director, Business Development, Private Equity and Credit

310-801-3433 | sgannon@manulife.com

Richard Shusman, CFA, CAIA

Managing Director, Business Development, Private Equity and Credit

617-816-2491 | rshusman@manulife.com

Andrew Blackman

Managing Director, Business Development, Private Equity & Credit

207-090-1448 | Andrew_Blackman@manulifeam.com

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