Citigroup spin-out holds $52m second close

Auldbrass was founded by Howard Sanders, who used to make private investments on behalf of Citi Holdings' pension plan.

Auldbrass Partners, which spun out of Citigroup in 2011, has held a second close on its sophomore fund.

Auldbrass Partners Secondary Opportunity Fund II raised $52.85 million from eight investors, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Fund II is targeting $100 million with a hard-cap of $150 million, Secondaries Investor reported in May last year. It held a $41 million first close in the same month, having made a first sale on 3 April.

Investors in Fund II include Allegheny County Retirement System, which committed $4m. It has a management fee of 1.25 percent, a 6 percent hurdle rate and carried interest of 12 percent, according to minutes from the pension’s June 2017 meeting.

Auldbrass Partners makes secondaries investments in buyout, growth equity, mezzanine and other types of private equity funds, according to its website. It focuses on the mid-markets of western Europe and North America.

The firm’s debut fund, the 2012-vintage Auldbrass Partners Secondary Opportunity Fund, raised $15 million and closed in November 2014, according to PEI data.

Auldbrass was spun out by managing director Howard Sanders, who was responsible for making private investments on behalf of Citi Holdings’s $11 billion pension plan, according to Auldbrass’s website. Citi Holdings was formed after the financial crisis to hold Citigroup’s non-core asset management and brokerage assets, with the intention of eventually winding them down.

Managing director Ahmad Ali was director and head of private equity at Cornell University’s Office of University Investments from 2003-12.

Auldbrass did not wish to comment.