Investing in unlisted companies is inherently an illiquid investment, which requires tying up capital for many years. But a secondary market, allowing certain holdings to be sold early, has gradually developed. Still limited ten years ago, it now reaches more than $100 billion in transactions per year, according to the investment bank Jefferies.
Interest for individuals? Acquire shares at a discounted price and reduce the holding period for assets by purchasing funds already established. The risk taken is reduced. Another advantage: ensuring better visibility of your portfolio.
With the decline in equity markets that occurred last year, certain institutional investors saw the share of unlisted assets mechanically increase in their allocations. Due to regulatory ratios, some find themselves forced to sell their holdings in unlisted funds, to rebalance the balance. “These “forced sellers” are thus led to accept a significant discount, of the order of 20%, in current market circumstances”, we note at Auris Gestion, which has just launched the HOPE 2029 fund with the specialized manager Flexstone Partners (Natixis IM). The profitability objective is 12% per year, net of management fees. If the offer is growing, it still remains the prerogative of wealthy savers: the entry ticket amounts to 100,000 euros minimum.