NETHERLANDS - NIB Capital Private Equity, the Amsterdam based jointly owned venture arm of Dutch superfunds ABP and PGGM, is to launch an e500m private equity fund of funds arrangement in the coming months aimed primarily at pension funds in the Benelux region.

Wim Borgdoff, managing partner fund investment at the firm says the product will be aimed at investors who want to generate well structured exposure towards private equity, but are probably making their first steps into the asset category.
“ What we are considering is a geographically very well diversified portfolio, with US, Europe and some emerging markets exposure.
“ It will consist of venture, mid-market, growth capital and small and large buy-out funds and we believe it is a product which gives you the best general exposure towards private equity.”

Borgdoff believes this approach has become a speciality for NIB through the management of ABP and PGGM’s private equity exposure: “The portfolios we are managing and have been structuring for ABP and PGGM have been sourced very much from this point of view.
“We are focusing on creating a parallel structure, which invests side by side with ABP and PGGM.
“The fund of funds will participate in the overall fund that we manage for ABP and PGGM. It is not that ABP and PGGM will put a slice of assets in the fund of funds, it is one very big pool of money.”

Borgdoff notes that while pension funds will be the core client base, the firm is also marketing to private banks and smaller to mid size insurance companies.
“ We are currently going into pre-marketing during the coming one or two months, focusing on the Benelux environment.
“ During the marketing we will be considering exactly what the products should be, but we feel we have a strong offer because we already have the existing fund investment platform for ABP and PGGM and what we can offer is a very convenient way to invest side by side with them.”

Borgdoff says the fund of funds first closing will be at the end of this year, with the second close three to six months later.