Neuberger Berman Closes New Secondary Opportunity Fund

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As of September, 2013, Neuberger Berman, the employee-controlled investment manager with nearly 2,000 employees worldwide, has been managing just short of $230 billion in assets.

The independent firm which was founded in 1939, is headquartered on New York City’s Third Avenue and specializes in wealth management, mutual funds, and institutional asset management. Today, the company announced that it has closed its third global private equity secondary fund at $2 billion. Neuberger had hoped to raise $1.6 billion for the NB Secondary Opportunities Fund III but surpassed that number due to demand.

That puts the fund ahead of its successor, the NB Secondary Opportunities Fund II, which began with commitments of $1.7 billion.

Neuberger Berman: Fund will purchase private equity investments

According to NB, the fund will look to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through the purchase of private equity investments for investors looking for liquidity. These secondary opportunities are promised to be found in private equity funds, structured private equity opportunities, direct investments and co-investments.

The SOF III will be led by a team of investors with considerable secondary experience with a number of the team members having worked in secondaries since the beginning of the nineties. Benjamin Perl, Tristram Perkins, Ethan Falkove, and Brian Talbot have been charged with the fund’s future. In addition to 115 investor service professionals, the group will also call on around 60 investment professionals with a wealth of experience from Neuberger Berman’s private equity group.

Fund has a diverse group of investors

In raising the $2 billion, Neuberger Berman called on corporate pension plans, foundations, endowments, insurance companies and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. The fund truly has a worldly group with investors coming from Europe, North and Latin America as well as Asia.

“We are delighted with the overwhelming support for SOF III from both existing and new investors,’’ said Talbot, global head of secondary investing, in a statement. “Investors like our strategy of leveraging the global sourcing and due diligence capabilities of a leading asset management firm and our focus on middle market transactions,” said Tristram Perkins, managing director.

While many know Neuberger Berman for its affiliation with Lehman Brothers, only one remains a viable investment option.

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