What is the profile of the new long-distance runners?
Of note this year was the entry of European and American institutional investors who, according to the fund managers, have a more fluid dialogue due to their greater knowledge of the type of asset, its cyclical evolution, its illiquidity, etc. On the other hand, savings banks and financial institutions have disappeared. The weight of international investors has increased from 10% in 2012 to 30% in 2013, reflecting the improvement in confidence in the country.
According to Francisco Gomez-Zubeldia de Diana Capital, highlights that 25% of its new fund is invested by family offices and a greater role for pension and insurance plans. In this regard, Inés Andrade of the fund of funds Altamar capital, explained very clearly the situation of this type of investor. The new law limits the level of total fees for pension plans from 2% to 1.5% in total so managers are discouraged to invest in private equity. For occupational pension funds, they do not have the problem of limited fees and can devote 5-10% to this asset class. Another feature is that the decision depends to a large extent on the trade unions that are present in the investment committees and therefore a pedagogical work has to be done with them. Insurance companies, on the other hand, are not limited by commissions either, but they do have solvency capital requirements: for every euro devoted to risk capital, they must contribute 39% in capital.
What do investors look for when they enter venture capital?
As explained by Luis Seguí of Miura capital, LP looks mainly at the track record of the managers and the type of investment. It has traditionally focused on buyout and expansion transactions, but in recent years there has been a growing interest in restructuring and venture capital.
Altamar Capital's criteria is to invest 80% in primaries and 20% in secondaries. The primary portion is divided into 75% buyout, 10% growth and 15% special non-operating financials. The focus is on low volatility of managers' performance, i.e. better many good trades than a few excellent ones and several bad ones.
Is there an excess demand for money from fund managers?
At this point, a disparity of opinions was revealed. According to Francisco Gomez Zubeldia, the market is a long way from reaching 2006 levels (€4,000M), and is expected to reach €2,000M by 2014. We are also behind other developed economies such as France and the United Kingdom. For Luis Seguí, there is a risk of increased competition from managers with the entry of new competitors such as direct lending, long-term debt or international managers with more aggressive attitudes.
Other posts you may like to read interest
Venture capital analysis at CapCorp 2014
In which sectors does European venture capital invest?
Most active VC investors in Europe in the first half of 2014
