SEI: Few investors use secondaries exchanges to buy or sell assets

Few investors plan to use a secondaries exchange or platform to buy and sell secondaries assets, according to a survey conducted by asset and wealth management firm SEI.

Only 13 percent of fund managers, limited partners and consultants anticipate using an exchange to buy secondaries assets and 12 percent of the respondents plan to sell on a platform.

Buying or selling assets directly or through a broker remain the primary transaction method. Nearly 90 percent of respondents plan to purchase assets directly from a seller or broker and 73 percent plan to sell directly through the respective parties.

A good portion of the respondents also plan to buy and sell through a dedicated secondaries fund.

Still, several online secondaries exchanges and platforms have launched in recent years. Palico for example is led by Antoine Dréan, who previously founded Paris-based private equity specialist advisor Triago.

In London, SecondCap launched its SecondaryNet platform in 2011. Last September the firm said most of its 420 registered buyers are funds of funds, and institutional investors and family offices, which make up an increasing portion of its user base. At the time family offices accounted for 8 percent of buyers.