“Hedge funds are certainly looking to capitalize on the enthusiasm for private equity,” says an EY partner.
Two Sigma, one of the world’s largest quantitative hedge fund managers, has raised $1.2 billion for its new private equity unit, Sightway Capital.
Sightway reached the final close of its first fund, Sightway Capital I, the firm said Tuesday. Commitments came from a “diverse group of institutional investors,” including Massachusetts’ public pension fund, which approved investing as much as $500 million with Sightway last year.
“With the closing of our first fund and the support of our new partners, we believe Sightway Capital is well positioned to build on the current momentum of our portfolio companies,” division CIO Wray Thorn said in a statement. “We plan to invest this additional capital to further scale our established platform company investments and to drive long-term value for our investors.”
Two Sigma first began exploring opportunities in private capital back in 2008, according to the Sightway website. The quant firm launched Sightway in January of last year as a way of “building on these established investment capabilities and continuing its differentiated investment approach.”
Two Sigma’s push into private equity reflects a larger trend of hedge fund firms diversifying with the hot asset class and other non-traditional strategies, according to EY. The consulting firm’s 2019 global alternative fund survey, published last week, found that 26 percent of hedge funds offered a private equity product.
“There is high investor appetite for these products,” said Ryan Munson, a partner in EY’s asset and wealth management practice. “Hedge funds are certainly looking to capitalize on the enthusiasm for private equity.”
While hedge funds in general have experienced a decline in popularity in recent years, private equity funds have been magnets for institutional capital. According to EY, private equity accounts for about a quarter of allocators’ alternatives portfolios, up from 18 percent in 2018. Hedge funds, by comparison, declined from 40 percent to 33 percent over the same period.
“In today’s environment, there’s a view that if you’re able to have a diversified portfolio of products to go to market with, that will help you attract a diversified base of investors and help with the overall performance of your firm,” Munson said. “I certainly think we’re going to continue to see this trend of managers not looking to be one-trick ponies but having variety of products.”
Source: Institutional Investor
Read other recent News
NYSTRS committed $400m to private debt last year
The New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) committed $400m (£315.55m) to private debt funds between October and December last year. The pension fund allocated $300m to the OIC Credit Opportunities IV fund, while the remaining $100m was committed to the...
PGA Tour unveils $3bn partnership deal
The PGA Tour has agreed a private equity deal worth around $3bn (£2.36bn) with a group of investors led by the Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool FC. As a result, golfers who have remained loyal to the tour and rejected advances from the rival LIV Golf circuit...
H2 Equity taps £300m Fund VI to invest in Buttress Group
H2 Equity Partners has invested in Northants-based Buttress Group, the company which sells, installs, services and supplies warewashing and ice making equipment and parts to the UK commercial catering market. H2 Equity Partners is currently investing its £300m Fund VI...