Kempen Capital Management has put its newest close-end investment fund onto the UK market for the first time.
The Kempen European Private Equity Fund is now for sale in the UK, having initially been launched in the Netherlands in January 2019. It raised over €76 million in the first closing on 14 February 2019 and is currently open for additional subscriptions.
The fund seeks to ensure sound risk diversification. It does this by targeting small buy-outs across Europe, with the aim of creating an investment portfolio over a period of between three to five years, and diversifying across numerous European countries and sectors.
Sven Smeets, co-head of Private Markets at Kempen believes that close-end funds benefit from fewer competitors and higher returns.
He said: ‘‘It is a hybrid investment fund that combines indirect investments in private equity funds and direct co-investments. Co-investments are private equity investments made directly in a company, alongside a (private equity) partner. The fees involved in direct co-investments are lower than in traditional investments in private equity funds. This is partly the reason why, in our view, the expected returns are higher. In the small and lower mid-market of European buy-outs, which is where the smallest funds of the European private equity market are found, there are fewer competitors with a lot of capital than in large-scale buy-outs, while there are many high-quality opportunities. We expect this to offer sound opportunities for return. This new private equity fund will build on the small-cap expertise Kempen is known for.’
Marvin de Jong, director of Private Markets at Kempen, argued that its fund would provide more opportunities for investment for individual clients
He said: ‘Traditionally, investing in private equity via co-investments was the exclusive domain of large institutional investors, such as pension funds. The Kempen European Private Equity Fund makes this asset category more accessible to high net worth individuals and family offices, who are professional investors.’
