Pantheon International steers strategy towards single assets

The listed vehicle made 15 commitments to secondaries investments in the 12 months to 31 May totalling the equivalent of $130.8m, according to its 2022 annual report.

Pantheon International has been steering its investment strategy towards single-asset transactions as it looks to double down on assets it knows well.

The listed private equity investment trust made 15 commitments to secondaries investments in the 12 months to 31 May totalling £111 million ($130.8 million; €131.2 million), according to its 2022 annual report. Nine of those transactions were single-asset secondaries transactions.

Around half of that amount was a top-up commitment to Pantheon Secondary Opportunity Fund, Pantheon’s inaugural GP-led-focused fund, which has a particular focus on single-asset transactions. That brings PIP’s total commitment to the vehicle to $225 million. The top-up does not alter the total size of the fund, according to a spokesperson for Pantheon. The vehicle held a final close at $624 million in October last year.

In its report, PIP said it had been steering its secondaries strategy towards single-assets as it looks to double down on assets it knows well managed by top-quality managers.

“Single asset secondaries, combined with PIP’s exposure to co-investments, allow[s] PIP to increase the concentration of the portfolio while continuing to manage risk through diversification,” a spokesperson for PIP told Secondaries Investor.

As of the end of May, around 45 percent on PIP’s balanced portfolio was invested directly in companies. Thirty-one percent of PIP’s portfolio is weighted to secondaries, as of closing portfolio NAV for the period, with co-investments making up the same percentage. The remaining 38 percent is weighted towards primary investments.

Pantheon is in market with Pantheon Global Secondary Fund VII, targeting $2 billion, according to Secondaries Investor data. The target is in line with the 2018-vintage sixth fund, which closed above target on $2.2 billion in August 2020 and is sized “to fill the void” left by competitors raising larger funds, according to materials from Ventura County Employees Retirement Association.

Fund VII is targeting a net multiple of 1.5-1.7x of invested capital and a 15-18 percent net IRR, the documents said.

Earlier this year, the firm hired Coller Capital partner Amyn Hassanally as partner and global head of private equity secondaries. New York-based Hassanally reports to Jeff Miller, global head of private equity.