Schroders Capital is launching its first long-term asset fund (LTAF) for private clients in the UK. The Schroders Capital Global Private Equity LTAF will be a feeder fund into an existing strategy, the $1.8bn Schroders Capital Semi-Liquid Global Private Equity Fund, which was launched in September 2019.
The fund invests in small and mid-market buyouts in the US and Europe, as well as growth companies in Asia, with a focus on the technology and healthcare sectors. It is managed by Benjamin Alt, head of global private equity portfolios at Schroders Capital.
Alt said the new LTAF will give private investors “access to the most attractive segments of private equity markets globally through a well-established fund with a proven track record”.
“Private equity enables investors to access different parts of the economic ecosystem, bringing the potential for robust investment performance and the benefits of diversification,” he explained.
The new feeder fund sits under the umbrella of the Schroders Capital Wealth Solutions LTAF, which has just received regulatory approval and has been designed as an open-ended investment company (OEIC) to cater to the UK wealth market.
This is Schroders’ fourth LTAF launch and it differs from the others, which target defined contribution pension funds and are structured as authorised contractual schemes.
James Lowe, director, private markets at Schroders, said: “For the UK wealth community, LTAFs will provide another access point to private markets and we expect this LTAF to be a complementary tool to existing private markets structures – like investment trusts – offering new flexibility in how UK investors will be able to meet their objectives via private market investments.”
Earlier this month, Schroders Capital also received regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority to launch its first LTAF investing in UK venture capital. This fund will offer defined contribution pension funds and other institutional investors exposure to UK-based early-stage technology and life sciences companies.