Emerging Managers and Independent Sponsors in Private Equity: An Increasing Area of Focus for Certain Limited Partners?
Emerging managers present increased due diligence risks for institutional investors as they usually have a limited history of working together, but those that are successful can outperform. Though attention in the financial press tends to focus on large, established, name-brand fund managers, certain sophisticated institutional investors have retained a strong interest in the sector – and interest in an allied sector, independent sponsors who invest on a deal-by-deal basis without the backing of a blind-pool fund – has been steadily growing.
This IMDDA webinar will focus on the following:
- Definitions: Who Are We Talking About?
- Smaller Fund Managers Raising Not Only First-Time but also Often Second-Time and Third-Time Funds
- Independent Managers Raising Funds on a Deal-by-Deal Basis
- Why Should We Care?
- Evidence of Outperformance
- Exposure to Newer Sectors with Few Established Managers
- Small Buyouts: Refilling the Bucket
- What Are You Looking for In These Sectors?
- Independent Sponsors
- How Are Structures Different and How Does That Affect Motivation and Alignment?
- Key Differences in Due Diligence
Moderator
Kelly DePonte, Kelly DePonte Advisory; Mr. DePonte is the Managing Director of Kelly DePonte Advisory LLC, a boutique private markets advisor and consultant, which provides strategic advice to emerging managers. He has 33 years of experience in private alternative fund investment and fundraising.
He was previously the head of research at Probitas Partners, a global placement agent active in closed-end funds targeting private markets. Before Probitas he was the COO at Pacific Corporate Group (PCG), a consultant and fund-of-funds manager, focused on investing in private equity partnerships and co-investments and also helped manage three private equity funds-of-funds sponsored by PCG. Prior to PCG, Mr. DePonte held various positions at First Interstate Bancorp and its subsidiaries in corporate and investment banking, including positions in private equity, derivatives and asset/liability management.
Mr. DePonte is currently a member of the Advisory Board at the Investment Management Due Diligence Association About IMDDA - IMDDA, an Advisor to Hanover Square Capital Hanover Square Capital, a boutique investments bank based in London, and an Advisor to InRider Partners InRider Partners : Investor relations solutions for private equity. He has an MBA in Finance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Communications from Stanford University.
Panelists
Jefferson Stone, Barrel Rate Capital; He is Barrel Rate’s Managing Principal, leading the Firm’s investments and operations. Mr. Stone has worked in the private capital markets since 1997 when he joined Pacific Corporate Group after working for a small law firm for three years. After graduating from the Wharton School of Business with an MBA in 2001, Mr. Stone joined Probitas Partners in San Francisco, where he helped to shape the firm’s pioneering intermediary and market-making program in the private equity secondary markets. Mr. Stone joined the William Flora Hewlett Foundation in 2006, where he ultimately served as a senior member of the foundation’s private equity team for nearly 10 years. In that capacity, he oversaw a broad-based portfolio of private equity and alternative assets that included total commitments of over $3 billion.
Since 2015, he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Axiom Asia Private Capital and served as an advisor to various private market participants and firms. At Wharton, Mr. Stone was both a Palmer Scholar and a Siebel Scholar, and he has a BA from the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated Magna Cum Laude.
William F. Herrfeldt, McGuireWoods; Herrfeldt is a Partner who focuses on the formation of private investment funds and complex corporate transactions. He has worked with a diverse client base, including emerging and established managers of various types of private fund and investment management organizations, large and middle-market companies, start-up and emerging growth companies, institutional investors and real estate investment managers. He advises fund sponsors and investors on the organization, negotiation, structuring and operation of private investment funds. His experience in fund formation matters and operational issues faced by their sponsors includes small first-time funds and newly organized sponsors, through much larger funds and established sponsors. Mr. Herrfeldt received a JD, cum laude, from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, in 2006, and a BA, cum laude, from Gettysburg College, in 2002.
Zach Schneider, Twin Bridge Capital Partners; Mr. Schneider is a Partner and investment committee member at Twin Bridge Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm exclusively focused on investing across the North American buyout market. Mr. Schneider has spent his career working in leveraged finance, private equity, and operations. At Twin Bridge, Mr. Schneider supports all investment origination, underwriting, and fundraising activities.
Prior to joining Twin Bridge, Mr. Schneider most recently worked for Antares Capital, a leading middle market private credit investment firm. While at Antares, Mr. Schneider spent his time focused on distressed credit and minority equity positions, in addition to a rotation with the Firm’s investment committee overseeing the investment underwriting and approval process. Prior to Antares, Mr. Schneider was an investment professional with Twin Bridge Capital Partners, where he focused on all facets of the investment process, including company research, manager diligence and portfolio analytics. Prior to that, Mr. Schneider was in business school where he spent time working with the University of Notre Dame’s Investment Office. Mr. Schneider began his career working as a project engineer for Gaylor, Inc.
Mr. Schneider earned an MBA from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, and where he spent time working with the University of Notre Dame’s Investment Office , and a BS in Building Construction Management Technology from Purdue University.