Vanterra completes first closing on debut fund

Quadrant Management, Inc. is one of the anchor investors. Other commitments came from high-net-worth individuals globally.

Vanterra will invest in smaller and emerging private equity funds and also make direct equity investments, including but not limited to co-investments, all in the lower mid-market space. The geographic focus will be on the US and specific emerging markets such as India, China, the Middle East, Africa and CEE.

Shad F Azimi, principal at Vanterra, said, 'The significant interest in our fund, in spite of the challenging fundraising market is validation of our thesis. We focus on identifying lower middle-market funds with unique strategies that target high growth markets characterised by greater market inefficiencies, more proprietary deal flow, and less leverage - all of which lead to greater value creation opportunities.

'In addition, many investors are realising that investing in large brand name funds does not necessarily correlate to strong performance. Instead, we focus on smaller managers whose greater alignment of interests has historically led to higher absolute returns,' he added.

Vanterra was founded by Azimi, formerly a principal at New York Life Capital Partners; Alan Quasha, CEO of Quadrant Management; and Jason Young, a managing director of Quadrant Management.

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