Placement Agent Fees?

Not too small for a decent agent to raise. Depending on circumstances I have seen anywhere from 2-5% (5% for more venture, direct deals that are not easy raises), I have seen the fee being lower but then the agent is allocated carry, I have also seen retainers in the 10-15k per month range (I have seen 10k for 6 months most often). I would think you can do something in the 3%ish range maybe with a small retainer but without more info hard to say.

I can get you in touch with someone if you PM me. Right in their wheel house (EM, smaller fund size, not as much track record).

This is definitely not too small for a reputable placement agent to take on. From my experience, the fees are usually one year’s management fee (1.5% - 2%). Retainers are subjective based on the upfront work needed (I have seen 0k - 300k lump sum or 15k - 30k per quarter). The economics are usually negotiable especially for smaller fund sizes. GP commit is definitely above market. Most funds I’ve seen are in the 1% - 2% range. Unrelated to placement agents, but you will also want to consider whether to add a preferred return (market for PE is 8% while a lot of VCs forego the pref.). Please feel free to shoot me a PM.

Bump

As an institutional LP, I can say with 100% confidence that no reputable placement agency firm will go for a $50mn fundraise. After the GP commit, you are looking at $42mn in external capital. Most pension fund type LPs will have minimum check size requirements of at least 10mn and that is assuming the smallest, most risk-leaning LPs. From the placement agent's point of view, it will be a lot of work to place that capital relative to the fees they can generate. I think you are best off looking at smaller placement agents that have contacts with HNWI, which would be your ideal LP base.

Response:

1) Definition of "reputable" aside - I've seen a a couple of agents charge 2% (for the size you are seeking), and then 1% on the next fund if those investors circle back.

I don't recall a retainer, or it was negligible. Target LPs were mix of small family office and HNW/UHNW 

2) GP commitment (is this 1-2 individuals?) is above average when considering size of fundraise 

3) Going to throw this out there - why not just go fundless? With $50M target for a fund, your going to have concentration constraints and you don't have much flexibility on the strategy shift (though your LP base may not care either way). The $50M is going to put you in a tight box for deals, and your investors may actually prefer to look at opportunities on a deal by deal basis. I understand the downfalls of being in constant fundraising mode for each deal and the lack of certainity of mangement fees, but I think you could actually get better carry economics, have more latitude in strategy, and you can build up a track record with high conviction deals with fewer constraints under a fund model. (PM me if you'd like to chat more)