Heat Waves Cause Rolling Blackouts in California (Bloomberg)
Blue Pool Capital Ditches Large U.S. Tech Holdings
Alibaba Group co-founder Joe Tsai's family office, Blue Pool Capital, has sold off more than 30 U.S. publicly listed companies since the beginning of 2021. Some of the most notable names included Alphabet, Microsoft and Twitter. The firm's lone remaining U.S. equity position is a 9.8% stake in asset manager Blue Owl Capital. Simultaneously, Blue Pool Capital has been increasing its venture capital exposure, investing in more than 10 startups since the beginning of last year. Some of the most active sectors for the firm have been sports, blockchain and healthcare.
Private Funding Pulse Check
ArsenalBio, a cell therapy company, has closed on a $220M Series B round that included New York, NY-based Single-Family Office Euclidean Capital
Adam Neumann's Family Office, 166 2nd, has participated in a Series A funding round that totaled $15M for R2, an embedded finance infrastructure software product
Tao Capital Partners and Moore Ventures engaged in a Series B investment with Elephas, an imaging technology platform, totaling $41.5M
Smedvig Capital Family Office took part in a $30M Series B deal with Mavenoid, a scalable support solution for hardware companies
According to a Wall Street Journal survey, 80% of secondary market buyers expect to see an increase in deal volume from high-net-worth individuals and family offices. This expectation has increased 25% since 2020 as wealthy investors seek to exit either a portion or all of their private equity positions. Many of these holdings are locked into "feeder funds", vehicles with notoriously high fees and complex terms. As a result, a number of companies specializing in secondary transactions have emerged to facilitate the expected uptick in deal flow. Companies such as Moonfare GmbH, Beneficient Co. Group LP and Institutional Capital Network, Inc. have provided investors with critical liquidity solutions.
“You have to understand that these people have made their livings as doctors, professors and entrepreneurs...So they may not be as familiar with [secondary transactions] as people who do it all the time."
Verdun Perry, Blackstone Inc.
President Xi Leads China's ESG Charge
Since the beginning of 2021, total assets in Chinese ESG funds have doubled, driven by a conscious movement towards green energy, renewable power, poverty alleviation and energy security. Catalyzing the movement is Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitment to a country wide net-zero emission production by 2060 and an anti-poverty campaign. According to Bloomberg data, 112 new ESG funds have launched in the past 20 months, tripling the output over the previous four years. However, many asset managers define ESG differently, with roughly 15% of these Chinese funds allocating capital to coal companies and 60% of the funds including steel industry exposure.
“The government is bound to generate its own interpretation of ESG, because they want to make sure it will not conflict with the country’s national economic strategies."
Boya Wang, Morningstar Inc.
Bank Executive Launches Wealth App
According to a report, the founder and CEO of Hive Wealth, Yvette Butler, has raised $2.4M for the financial app that aims to create and preserve generational wealth. Prior to founding the company, Butler spent time as president for both Silicon Valley Private Banking and Capital One Investing. The platform is designed for users to seamlessly track savings, create spending and investment goals, and provide clients the ability to communicate and share ideas with peers. Referred to as a "unique blend of financial insights and personalized data", the app provides discussion forums and shares financial best practices.
“We believe that transparent, shame-free conversations about money are the first step to gaining financial freedom. Guided by our mission to close the racial, gender, and generational wealth gap, we’re here to give you the tools you need to grow — and to create a vibrant financial future."
Denver, CO-based RIA Mercer Advisors has announced an acquisition of Jordan Financial Strategies, a $120M wealth manager (Cision)
Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC has agreed to purchase Bellevue, WA-based Dental Wealth Advisors, an RIA managing $141M (FA)
Sun Life Financial Inc. has announced that it intends to acquire a majority stake in Advisors Asset Management, a leading U.S. retail distribution firm (Cision)
Written by:
Andrew Popp | Data Research Associate
FINTRX delivers an industry-leading suite of private wealth data and research solutions to the alternative investment space and private capital markets. Engineered to help clients identify and access family office and RIA capital intuitively, the FINTRX platform ensures accurate and updated data and research on 850,000+ private wealth records globally. To subscribe to our newsletter and see previous versions click below.
