Private Equity
Wholesale access to top manager funds in Australia and around the world, through specialists in the private equity manager space. The lock-up and the capital calls explained before you commit.
Why private equity
The highest return potential on our spectrum
Private equity owns businesses before they list, or instead of listing at all. Managers buy them, improve them and sell them, and that work is where the return comes from. Over long periods it has rewarded investors for the patience and the illiquidity it asks of them.
The proof
Australian private equity against its peers
The numbers here come from the Australian Investment Council and Preqin. They are set out to show the scale of the opportunity, not to describe any one fund.
- Median return after fees, Australia-focused private capital, 2014 to 2021 vintages13.8% p.a.
- North America, same basis12.4% p.a.
- Europe, same basis12.0% p.a.
- Cash returned after five years, 2019 vintage, Australia0.39x
- Cash returned after five years, 2019 vintage, global0.18x
Preqin and Australian Investment Council, Australian Private Capital Yearbook 2025. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
What we access
Three ways into the asset class
Fund commitments
Closed-end funds with a defined strategy, drawn down over the first several years as the manager finds deals.
Co-investment
Participation in a single identified business alongside a manager, usually at reduced fees, where the asset is known before you commit.
Secondaries
Existing commitments bought from other investors, often at a discount, where the portfolio already exists and can be examined.
Manager access
We work with specialists in the private equity manager space, which is how a wholesale investor reaches funds otherwise restricted to existing institutional investors.
The J-curve
Why the early years look worse than they are
A private equity fund draws capital before it creates value. Fees and acquisition costs land up front, and businesses are carried at cost until there is a reason to value them differently.
So a healthy fund commonly shows a negative return in its first two to four years, then climbs as businesses improve and are sold. That dip is structural, not a sign of failure, and it is worth understanding before you commit rather than after the first statement.
A commitment is not a payment
You agree a sum, then it is called in instalments
The manager calls capital over several years as deals are done, usually on ten business days notice. Two things follow from that.
The money you have committed but not yet paid still has to be available, which means it cannot be locked into something else illiquid. And failing to meet a capital call carries severe consequences under most fund documents, including forfeiture of a large part of what you have already contributed.
We size a commitment against your genuine liquidity, not against your net worth.
What you are taking on
- Capital lossWhole investment at risk
- IlliquidityCommitted for the term
- Capital callsBinding, and default provisions are punitive
- Blind poolStrategy and team, not a known portfolio
- ValuationsManager estimates, not market prices
- DispersionVery wide between managers
Track record
Private equity we have already brought to clients
Salter Brothers Tech Fund, and a co-investment in Market Boomer
To add: what the fund invests in, when clients came in, the Market Boomer co-investment and where it stands today.
LVP Sunflower Fund
To add: strategy, vintage, and the outcome for clients to date.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. Examples are shown to illustrate the type of opportunity we access, not as a recommendation.
The liquidity trade-off
Illiquid by nature. Structured around you
Private equity locks capital away, and that is the part that stops most investors. We structure each portfolio around your liquidity needs first, so the capital you may need is never the capital that is committed.
Leaving out a whole asset class has a cost too. It concentrates risk in what remains, and with an asset class like private equity it can mean giving up return over the long run.
The solution: evergreen funds
Open ended funds with global scale that invest alongside the world's largest private equity managers, and offer periodic redemptions rather than a ten year lock-up.
- PEP Gateway FundTo add: manager, what it invests in, redemption frequency and minimum
- Warburg Pincus Access FundTo add: manager, what it invests in, redemption frequency and minimum
Redemptions are typically limited in size and frequency, and can be suspended in stressed markets. They are not a redemption right, and we size any allocation on that basis.
Want to talk about how private equity could fit your portfolio
Fund in highlight
Private assets with real asset security
LVP Granite Fund
Real assets like land and property, alongside government supported cashflows from operating businesses. The kind of portfolio that has historically sat inside large superannuation funds rather than with individual wholesale investors.
- ManagerLiverpool Partners, over $1.8b in institutional funds
- Portfolio managerRichard Chapman, formerly Head of Private Markets, Qantas Super
- Target return12% to 15% p.a.
- Target yield5% to 8%, paid quarterly
- LiquidityMonthly
Target returns and yield are not guaranteed.
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New opportunities go to verified wholesale clients first, privately, before they go anywhere else.
Educational zone
Learn more about private equity
Private equity return metrics: DPI, TVPI and IRR explained
What each number measures, why DPI is the one that means cash in your hand, and how to read a manager's track record. Coming soon.
LP and GP: who does what in a private equity fund
The investor, the manager, how each is paid, and where your interests line up and where they do not. Coming soon.
How it works
Three steps, no surprises
Verify and understand
We confirm your wholesale or sophisticated investor status, then establish your true liquidity position and how much of the portfolio can reasonably be illiquid.
Research and recommend
You receive the manager, the strategy, the track record by vintage, the fee and carry structure and the terms, with general advice on commitment sizing and pacing across vintage years.
You decide, we execute
You approve each commitment. We handle subscription documents, monitor capital calls and distributions so nothing is missed, and report transparently.
Questions
Before you commit anything
How long is my money committed?
Typically ten years from the fund's close, often with extension options. Capital is drawn over the first several years and returned as businesses are sold, so the average life of each dollar is shorter than the fund term. The commitment itself runs the full distance.
What is a capital call?
A notice from the manager requiring you to pay part of your committed capital, usually within ten business days. You must keep the uncalled portion available. Missing a call can result in forfeiting a substantial part of what you have already paid in.
What returns does private equity target?
Managers target a premium over listed equities to compensate for illiquidity and gearing, and the dispersion around that target is very wide. We show you the manager's realised results by vintage rather than a headline target. Target returns are not indicative or guaranteed.
What is the minimum commitment?
Institutional funds commonly require several million dollars. Access is more often achieved through feeder structures and co-investment, which bring minimums down considerably. We confirm the minimum for each opportunity before you commit.
Can my SMSF invest in private equity?
Yes, where it is consistent with the fund's investment strategy and its trust deed, and where the fund meets the wholesale investor test in its own right. The capital call obligation and the lock-up need careful thought against any pension payment obligations.
What does Barker Wealth charge?
Our fees and any benefits we receive are set out in our Financial Services Guide, available on this website or by calling (02) 8018 8998.
Find out whether private equity belongs in your portfolio
A 30-minute call to establish your eligibility, your liquidity and whether this is the right allocation for you. It is the last allocation we build, not the first.
Read more about Placements and Listed Trusts, Commercial Property and Private Credit, or see how the whole portfolio fits together on our Investments page.
Barker Wealth Management Pty Ltd ABN 46 695 875 962, AFSL 700297. Suite 913/185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000. (02) 8018 8998. This page contains general information only and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Private equity is available to wholesale and sophisticated investors only, as defined by the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Target returns are not indicative or guaranteed. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.