Ardian plans infrastructure evergreen product in private wealth push

Ardian, the largest secondaries firm by fundraising per the SI 50, is set to become the latest manager to move into the evergreen space, Secondaries Investor has learned.

The Paris-headquartered manager is eyeing the launch an infrastructure-focused vehicle targeting private wealth investors, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The firm intends that the vehicle, which it anticipates it will launch by year-end, will commit to infrastructure secondaries as well as making direct infrastructure investments, according to two of the sources.

Ardian plans to target global investors via a semi-liquid vehicle domiciled in Luxembourg, one of the sources said.

Philipp Meier, Ardian’s senior innovation manager within private wealth solutions, is understood to be spearheading the effort. Meier joined the firm last year from Goldman Sachs where he was a vice-president focused on asset and wealth management, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Ardian declined to comment on its plans for the vehicle.

Ardian’s infrastructure assets under management and advisory stood at $31 billion at the end of the first quarter of this year, according to its corporate report published in July. Its team of around 70 investment professionals has deployed over $10 billion over the last six years in Europe and the Americas.

Ardian will join a number of alternative asset managers and secondaries firm setting up evergreen vehicles with either a focus on secondaries or a heavy weighting towards the asset class.

Both CVC Secondary Partners and ICG plan to launch secondaries evergreen funds in the coming months, as Secondaries Investor has reported. These firms will join the likes of Pantheon, Coller Capital and Dawson Partners in managing secondaries-only semi-liquid strategies. Others including StepStone and HarbourVest Partners have a heavy weighting to secondaries within their evergreen vehicles.

Ardian is in market with its flagship private equity secondaries ASF IX fund targeting $25 billion, having already raised $20 billion, Secondaries Investor data shows.  It closed its latest infrastructure-focused secondaries vehicle ASF VIII Infrastructure on $5.28 billion in 2022, ahead of its $4 billion target.

ASF VIII Infrastructure had a total value to paid-in ratio of 1.15x and an internal rate of 15.6 percent as of 31 March, according to the New York City Employees’ Retirement System. Its 2017 ASF VII Infrastructure recorded a TVPI of 1.48x and an IRR of 14.3 percent at the end of 2023, according to the New York City Police Pension Fund.

ASF VI Infrastructure, which closed in 2015, had a TVPI of 1.44x and an IRR of 11.56 percent at the end of last year, according to the Houston Police Officers’ Pension System.

Read more – Semi-liquids and secondaries: offering new liquidity options to managers