20VC: Why Now is the Best Time to Invest in Emerging Managers, Biggest Mistake Emerging Managers Make When Fundraising & Investing Lessons from Investing $1.5BN Per Year and Being Early Investors in Thrive, a16z and Founders Fund with Peter Lacaillade
Dec 18, 2023
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Peter Lacaillade, Managing Director @ SCS Financial Services, shares insights on investing in emerging managers and the biggest mistake they make when fundraising. He also discusses his experience as an early investor in Thrive, a16z, and Founders Fund. Topics include the best VCs to invest in, portfolio strategies, and building relationships with LPs.
Building a diversified portfolio is crucial for successful investments.
Effectively managing liquidity is essential for long-term success as an LP.
Understanding the characteristics and motivations of different LP types is crucial for fund managers.
Deep dives
Key Point 1: Importance of Building a Diversified Portfolio
Building a diversified portfolio is crucial for successful investments. Allocating funds across a variety of funds and managers helps mitigate risks and improve overall returns. It is recommended to have a mix of established, well-known managers and up-and-coming managers to capitalize on different market opportunities. This approach allows for exposure to different sectors and strategies and increases the chances of finding high-performing investments.
Key Point 2: Active Liquidity Management
Effectively managing liquidity is essential for long-term success as an LP. Planning and forecasting liquidity needs and actively assessing opportunities for liquidity events are important considerations. Being able to strategically navigate secondary markets and evaluate early exits can help optimize returns and manage risk. Regularly monitoring the performance and valuations of portfolio companies and engaging in discussions with GPs about potential liquidity options are crucial steps in active liquidity management.
Key Point 3: Understanding Different LP Types
LPs come in various forms, including endowments, family offices, and fund of funds. Understanding the characteristics, motivations, and constraints of different LP types is crucial for fund managers. Building trusted relationships with LPs and aligning expectations and investment strategies can lead to long-term partnerships. Recognizing that LPs have different mandates, risk tolerances, and incentive structures helps managers tailor their fundraising approach and provide suitable investment opportunities.
The Importance of Diversification in Private Equity
One of the main ideas discussed in the podcast is the significance of diversification in private equity. The speaker emphasizes the need to build an optimal portfolio by having a large number of active relationships in private equity, contrary to the common belief that fewer relationships are better. By diversifying investments across a broad range of funds, the speaker argues that investors can minimize risk and enhance returns. This approach involves committing a substantial amount of capital each year and allocating it between buyouts and venture funds. Additionally, the speaker emphasizes the importance of having a balanced team and managing the trade-off between family and work obligations.
The Benefits of Direct Investing
Another main point discussed in the podcast is the value of direct investing in private equity. The speaker highlights the cost-saving advantages of direct investments, such as lower management fees and higher potential returns. They also mention that direct investments allow for a deeper understanding of the portfolio companies and closer relationships with managers. However, the speaker acknowledges the need to be cautious and selective in direct investing, emphasizing the importance of proper due diligence and leveraging their network to gain insights and mitigate risks. The speaker also stresses the importance of moving quickly in co-investment opportunities and having a streamlined decision-making process to capitalize on attractive deals.
Peter Lacaillade is a Managing Director @ SCS Financial Services where he leads its private investment program where he oversees the firm’s activities in private equity, opportunistic credit and private real assets. Peter has been an early backer of Thrive, Founders Fund, a16z, Greenoaks and 20VC. Before SCS, Peter was an Associate at HarbourVest Partners in its Secondary Group where he analyzed venture capital, growth equity and buyout investments.
In Today's Episode with Peter Lacaillade We Discuss:
1. Becoming One of the Great LPs in Venture:
How did Peter make his way into the world of fund investing as an LP?
What does Peter know now that he wishes he had known when he started as an LP?
Why does Peter believe now is the best time to be investing in newer, emerging managers?
2. How to Pick the Best Venture Managers:
What are the commonalities in the best VCs Peter has invested in?
How important is track record for Peter when evaluating managers?
What mistakes has Peter made when it comes to manager selection? What did he learn?
How do the best managers build relationships with their LPs?
3. Building a Portfolio That Can 5x:
In a venture fund portfolio, what is the distribution between those that outperform, perform as planned and then underperform?
How does Peter invest in both large franchises and emerging managers with a barbell approach? How much in established franchises and how much in emerging managers?
Are managers actively marking down their portfolios in the last 18 months? Who has been the best at this and who has been the worst? How much should portfolios be marked down?
How does Peter evaluate the compression of deployment timelines we saw in the last 18 months?
4. A Breakdown of the LP Landscape:
Family Offices: What are the biggest dangers of having family offices as LPs? Why do multi-family offices tend to be better?
Endowments: Are they really as stable as people think they are? What separates a good vs great endowment? Who stands out?
Fund of Funds: Why does Peter think fund of funds deserve more credit? How should managers think about working with FoFs most effectively?
What is the right level of concentration managers should have between these different LP profiles?
What are the biggest mistakes emerging managers make when approaching LPs?
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