Friend Booting up Structured Equity Fund - Placement Agents?

Friend of mine is looking to boot up a fund in the ~$50m range. He was a lawyer, and then founded a successful co he scaled very cleanly & sold recently, net low 8 figures for himself.

Now looking to offer financing to LMM businesses in the same range. I really love his strategy (same industry)...convinced he will crush it as our industry is underserved. It's relatively new so sophisticated lenders familiar with the space don't exist yet. Think of the way lenders treated SaaS in the 00s :)

Anyways, how normal would it be to use a placement agent for something this size? Good signal? Negative signal? Who should he be talking to?

4 Comments
 

My two cents is that you are going to have a tough time getting a placement agent to work on $50M size, or at least a reputable one. Simply doesn't seem worth the time for the low fee potential. Obviously raising the fund without the placement agent will look better, but not everyone is capable of doing that. How well connected is your friend/does he have contacts in his network that can stroke $5-$15M checks for his fund? 

 

My two cents is that you are going to have a tough time getting a placement agent to work on $50M size, or at least a reputable one. Simply doesn't seem worth the time for the low fee potential. Obviously raising the fund without the placement agent will look better, but not everyone is capable of doing that. How well connected is your friend/does he have contacts in his network that can stroke $5-$15M checks for his fund? 

I agree, seems hard to attract a placement agent that it would be worth the effort for.

IMO, he could raise $$$ on his own quite easily excluding whatever he ends up putting in as GP commit.

He was telling me he isn't bullish on being to do it though for whatever reason. I'm a little surprised given he has an awesome looking resume - top school, VC funded startup, good exit, etc...

Maybe just grabbing a preqin sub and working his way down a list of family offices?

 

Delectus eligendi sapiente molestiae dicta vel ratione. Quisquam voluptatibus rem ut necessitatibus est facere. Repudiandae ullam rerum laudantium aperiam eos nesciunt impedit. Aliquid voluptate molestiae consequatur sunt quo voluptatem corporis quam. Omnis non sint expedita provident sed maiores accusantium ea.

Consequatur deleniti sunt qui autem ad eum. Amet et dicta rerum rem repellendus. Nesciunt omnis ut autem at nemo voluptatem. Tempore est maiores provident sit.

Nulla qui omnis maiores ex vero iste et. Consequuntur quos quae aperiam cupiditate ut. Aut id iusto natus cumque totam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • Blackstone Group 99.2%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Vista Equity Partners 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Blackstone Group 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • The Riverside Company 98.9%
  • Ardian 98.5%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (99) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (105) $280
  • 2nd Year Associate (235) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (413) $231
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (97) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (272) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (38) $81
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (355) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Mimbs's picture
Mimbs
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”