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SI Decade: Zombie funds to continuation vehicles

In this second episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries, Blackstone's Verdun Perry and Evercore's Nigel Dawn look at how the continuation fund market has evolved over the last decade and how it may evolve in the years to come.

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What’s in a name? The process of moving an asset or assets from an existing private markets fund into a separate structure has been happening for some time now – some say as early as 2006 and possibly even prior to that.

The so-called ‘continuation fund’ market was worth around $40 billion last year, according to advisory estimates. Yet, this market was not always seen as a positive and constructive tool with which fund sponsors could deliver liquidity, via an option, while retaining their hold over prized assets.

In the second episode of the Decade of Secondaries Investing miniseries to celebrate the 10 years since Secondaries Investor launched, we sit down with Nigel Dawn, head of private capital advisory at investment bank Evercore, and Verdun Perry, global head of Blackstone’s Strategic Partners group, to discuss the evolution of the continuation fund market over the past decade and what’s in store for how this tool will continue to be used.

For full coverage of our Decade of Secondaries Investing series, including all podcast episodes and an interactive timeline, click here.