Three senior private equity executives, previously with Pacific Corporate Group (PCG), have formed a new firm, Leucadia Capital Partners (LCP), to provide customized private equity investm
Three senior private equity executives, previously with Pacific Corporate Group (PCG), have formed a new firm, Leucadia Capital Partners (LCP), to provide customized private equity investment management and advisory services to institutional investors.
The La Jolla, California-based firm is managed by Monte M. Brem, Chief Executive Officer; Thomas P. Keck, Chief Investment Officer; and Jose A. Fernandez, Managing Director. Together, the three founders have more than 30 years of experience as transaction advisors and principal investors. LCP expects to have a team of 10 professionals in place by June. Clients who have already retained LCP are the George Kaiser Family Foundation and the Kuwait Investment Authority.
LCP says it offers ‘highly sophisticated research capabilities, a proven investment approach (including development of optimized portfolio allocations and identification of top performing managers) and a professional staff with sophisticated analytical training, as well as direct investment and transaction experience.’
The firm is independent, 80% owned by its employees and founded on the principle that offering broad employee ownership and operational participation will allow LCP to attract and retain a highly talented group of individuals who are committed to the long-term success of its clients and the firm.
‘Prior to forming LCP we spent extensive time with leading private equity general and limited partners who expressed a market need for additional advisor and investment management alternatives due to the departure of many market players to the fund-of-funds model. In addition, our prior experience demonstrated to us that a superior investment approach can be developed for fund investments and co-investments applying sophisticated analytical techniques to the extensive empirical private equity performance data that now exists,’ said Brem. ‘LCP offers a specialized separate account (single limited partner) structure that is customized from an allocation and investment process perspective based on each client’s unique needs. We build portfolios through a combination of fund commitments and co-investments that provide superior net (after fee) returns to our clients.’
‘We look forward to working with Leucadia Capital Partners,’ said Ken Levit, Chief Investment Officer of the George Kaiser Family Foundation. ‘They have a very talented and experienced team and will serve an important role in helping us to identify inefficient and underappreciated investment opportunities in illiquid markets.’
‘We looked closely at the private equity advisor and investment manager marketplace and found that Leucadia Capital Partners offers the customized and progressive approach to building a private equity portfolio that we were seeking,’ said Osama Al-Ayoub, Director of Private Equity for the Kuwait Investment Authority. ‘Based on the pedigree and expertise of the team we expect LCP to quickly become one of the preeminent investment managers and advisors in the private equity sector.’
Prior to founding LCP, Monte Brem, 38, Chief Executive Officer, was the President of Pacific Corporate Group (‘PCG’), a private equity investment firm that oversaw over USD 15 billion of private equity allocations. Brem managed the investment activities and operations of PCG Asset Management, the operating division of PCG that was responsible for all of its partnership investment activities. Prior to his appointment as President, Brem was a member of PCG’s Direct Investment Group and Investment Committee that managed PCG’s Corporate Partners and Co-Investment Funds.
Tom Keck, 40, Chief Investment Officer, was previously a Managing Director and Head of Research at PCG, and chaired its Investment Committee. Keck led the restructuring of PCG’s investment process, organizing PCG’s 15 member research team into sub-sector specialties to ensure broad and deep market coverage. Keck joined PCG from Blue Capital, a middle market buyout firm founded by partners from McKinsey & Company.
Jose Fernandez, 35, Managing Director, was previously a Managing Director of PCG and a member of PCG’s Management Committee and Investment Committee. He served as Senior Vice President/General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of PCG before his promotion to Managing Director.
