Why Secondaries vs. PE?

Much of the work for secondary investors, similar to those on the investment team in private equity, is underwriting and evaluating various assets. This includes sensitizing for risk, evaluating the returns of an investment, and developing judgment when dealing with incomplete information.

However, as a secondary investor, while you often do single-asset diligence (for single-asset continuation vehicles), which is similar to the work in private equity, you’re often evaluating an entire fund or a portfolio of funds. This means often evaluating tens of businesses at once; you get more breadth but less depth.