LPs

APG Asset Management builds secondaries team

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The Brooklyn Bridge is seen partially in fog from in front of the Manhattan skyline in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton RC1DF679BDC0
  • APG AM enters a crowded market
  • Fundraising for secondaries hit record in 2017
  • APG promotes internally for team lead

APG Asset Management is building up an in-house secondaries team to buy LP interests in funds and participate in GP-led liquidity processes, a spokeswoman confirmed for Buyouts.

The shop, backed by Dutch pension manager APG, will enter a crowded market flush with capital for buying investor stakes in private equity funds.

Another emerging player is BlackRock, which recently hired Steve Lessar and Konnin Tam from Goldman Sachs to expand its secondaries capabilities.

The New York shop appointed Abraham Tiamiyu to lead the effort, sources said. Tiamiyu was promoted from within after five years working on APG’s in-house fund investment team, the spokeswoman, Jennifer Bainbridge, wrote in an email.

Prior to APG AM, Tiamiyu worked at secondaries shop Pomona Capital and UBS.

Tiamiyu is joined by William Wang, who joined the team on June 4 from secondaries firm Willowridge Partners, Bainbridge said.

It’s not clear how much the shop could deploy into secondary transactions. APG AM has completed select secondaries deals in the past, including buying a portfolio of assets last year from DIF held in its 2008 vintage DIF Infrastructure II fund.

APG AM’s parent is massive Dutch pension manager APG, which managed 473 billion euros ($547.8 billion) of assets as of April 2018.

APG began selling down its stake in AlpInvest Partners around 2011 and started build an in-house fund investing team.

It hired Greg Jania, formerly of WP Global Partners, to lead fund investing, reporting to global PE chief Iain Leigh. The group in 2013 also hired Michael Dymond, formerly of Universities Superannuation Scheme, as a senior portfolio manager.

Total secondary-market volume last year hit around $48 billion, a 45 percent jump from $33 billion in 2016, according to Credit Suisse’s secondary-market update from May.

Fundraising around secondary funds is as strong as in the primary market, with $41.5 billion raised in 2017, the biggest haul for secondaries since 2000, according to alternative-assets data provider Preqin.

Action Item: Check out APG AM’s Form ADV here: https://bit.ly/2Km2OnG