Start-Ups, Fund Structures And Private Capital

Christopher Reed of Walkers explores how private funds, first-time managers and the growing trend of an increasing share of capital in private hands all come together.

Q How do you define start-up funds?

A Start-up funds are established by first-time fund managers and promoters – the person behind the fund will not previously have established a fund, but will normally have experience from a previous role within an investment manager, investment adviser or investment bank. They tend to be people with a funds background spinning off on their own or with former colleagues, or private bankers with one or two key clients who are interested in setting up a fund with private capital. Typically, first-time managers and promoters will have a particular cornerstone investor in mind, or at least a particular type of investor that they will target – in my experience, having this investor on board is key to being able to attract other investors where the fund manager has no