Unigestion holds first close on fifth dedicated secondaries fund

Unigestion has raised around one third of the target for its latest dedicated secondaries vehicle.

The Geneva-headquartered boutique investor has held a €228 million first close on Unigestion Secondary Opportunity Fund V on the way to a target of €700 million, it noted in a statement. The fund will invest in small, non-auctioned secondaries deals below €50 million in size.

Unigestion aims to generate returns through company performance, rather than by using leverage or buying at a discount, the statement said. Fund V came to market in January, according to Secondaries Investor data.

In April, Unigestion said the coronavirus-related economic slowdown, combined with large amounts of leverage applied by general partners at deal and fund level, could bring a stream of opportunities to market “ideally suited to secondary investors targeting the small end of the market”.

The firm had been a net seller on the secondaries market in the 12 months to June last year, having sold at least €200 million-worth of fund stakes, Secondaries Investor reported. The interests were mainly from the firm’s 2008-, 2009- and 2010-vintage primary funds and evergreen mandates.

This month, principal David Swanson took over responsibility for Unigestion’s US secondaries business on the departure of 12-year veteran Christiaan van der Kam, sister title Buyouts reported. Van der Kam joined Schroder Adveq as head of secondaries.

Unigestion’s overall secondaries activity is led by partner Christian Böhler, who reports to head of investments Mark Zund.