Hartford Funds is launching it first fund focused on private markets, the firm announced today.
The Hartford Schroders Private Opportunities Fund, an actively managed closed-end tender offer fund that offers private equity strategies, will be available to accredited investors.
The fund was created to meet public demand for more private market investment solutions, according to Hartford Funds.
The fund is designed to provide broad exposure to a range of primarily small- and medium-sized buyout and growth companies with enterprise values that range from $50 million to $1 billion, which are typically not accessible to investors through public equity markets, the company said. In implementing the strategy, the investment team will allocate to private equity strategies globally, investing across regions, sectors, and industries in privately held companies that are seeking to actively build, grow, transform or innovate, Hartford Funds said.
The fund is looking for opportunities within high-quality direct and co-investments as well as primary and secondary private equity funds located in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and will generally focus on healthcare, technology, consumer products, consumer services and industrials.
“Over the course of this market cycle, we have witnessed meaningful change to traditional investment practices, including the increased democratization of alternative markets for retail investors,” Vernon Meyer, chief investment officer at Hartford Funds, said in a statement.
“At the same time, the number of privately owned companies far exceeds the number of publicly owned companies, creating an expansive opportunity set with the potential for higher growth and attractive returns,” he added.
Offering the Hartford Schroders Private Opportunities Fund in a tender offer fund structure will expand investors’ access to private equity investments through lower investment minimums, periodic opportunities for liquidity and familiar 1099 tax reporting, as compared to traditional private equity funds, Hartford Funds said.
A tender offer is a public solicitation to all shareholders requesting that they tender their stock for sale at a specific price during a certain time, according to Investopedia. The tender offer typically is set at a higher price per share than the company’s current stock price, providing shareholders a greater incentive to sell their shares.
The actively managed fund is sub-advised by Schroder Investment Management North America. Hartford Funds offers more than 50 mutual funds and ETFs in a variety of styles and asset classes.