New York Life’s Apogem beats target with $600m secondaries close

Secondaries-focused PA Capital joined forces with New York Life’s private equity affiliate GoldPoint Partners and lender Madison Capital Funding, rebranding as Apogem Capital in April.

New York Life Investment Alternative’s Apogem Capital has held a final close on its sixth legacy PA Capital secondaries vehicle, raising in excess of $600 million.

PA Secondary Fund VI closed above its $500 million target, Michael Zeleniuch, managing director, private equity secondaries, told Secondaries Investor. The firm will continue with its predecessor funds’ focus on mid-market secondaries transactions in the US and Canada. The fund can execute on transactions in excess of $100 million and will aim for a 50/50 split between LP-led and GP-led activity, Zeleniuch said.

Fund VI is more than double the size of its 2015-vintage Private Advisors Secondary Fund V, which closed on $275 million, against a target of $200 million. Limited partners include Case Western Reserve University, New York Life Insurance and The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, according to Secondaries Investor data.

“Our position in the middle market, following the closing of our merger with Madison Capital and Gold Point, has never been stronger,” Zeleniuch said. “We offer innovative and timely solutions to LPs and GPs and believe our programme, which is in excess of $900 million today, has never been more relevant.”

Secondaries-focused PA Capital joined forces with New York Life’s private equity affiliate GoldPoint Partners and lender Madison Capital Funding, rebranding to Apogem Capital in April. The combined group offers lending, primary and secondary fund investments, as well as equity-co-investments and GP stakes, according to a statement at the time of the merger.

Six senior executives at Goldpoint resigned in September, triggering key-person events in three active funds, affiliate title PEI reported last year. GoldPoint was set to work with LPs of its active funds to determine their futures, with four senior leaders from PA Capital and Madison Capital named to leadership roles.

Sentiment from advisers who responded to the Secondaries Investor Advisory Survey 2022 suggested after a strong first quarter that the market has subdued this year in line with the overall decline in public markets and investor sentiment.

It follows a very active year for secondaries transactions. By some estimates there were more than $130 billion of deal volume last year. Activity was spurred on by managers’ bids to hold onto their prized assets for longer and buyers seeking to deploy large quantities of dry powder following a coronavirus-induced pause.