Over the past two decades, the secondary investment thesis has evolved from a mainly opportunistic strategy – bringing liquidity to fund investors seeking to exit illiquid commitments – to a more constructive strategy, in which both general partners and limited partners can leverage secondaries to better manage their portfolios and seek to generate strong returns.
Northleaf's secondaries investment strategy seeks to provide investors with attractive risk-adjusted returns by gaining access to high-quality assets, often at a discount to intrinsic value.
Investment Approach
We construct differentiated portfolios of mid-market and lower mid-market private equity secondaries.
Leveraging our team’s expertise across the range of secondary transaction types, we focus primarily on traditional LP-led secondary investments and opportunistically invest in GP-led secondaries.
LP-Led Secondaries
Investments in which existing limited partners in a private equity fund sell their fund interests to secondary investors
GP-Led Secondaries
Investments structured by general partners to sell specific assets to new investors or into new entities backed by secondary investors
Why Northleaf for Secondaries
Mid-Market & Lower Mid-Market
We invest in mid-market and lower mid-market funds and companies where there are typically more levers for value creation, greater market inefficiencies and information asymmetry.
Integrated Platform
We leverage our primary investment capabilities and global integrated platform across private equity, private credit and infrastructure to generate sourcing and informational advantages.
High-Quality Assets
We aim to acquire high-quality, mature assets and portfolios with embedded value and a clear path to exit, rather than relying on substantial discounts to net asset value.
Strong Track Record
We have a reputation as a preferred partner and a valued solutions provider with 20+ years of delivering strong secondaries returns with limited use of leverage.
Information inefficiencies within the secondaries mid-market offer an abundance of opportunities. Northleaf investors benefit from our relationships and deep expertise, our genuine mid-market focus and our differentiated platform.
Secondaries provide investors with the potential to:
Accelerate the pace of investment and return of capital
Immediately diversify portfolios
Mitigate the “j-curve”
Enhance returns through re-pricing existing portfolio company investments
Deepen access and informational advantages when coupled with a primary fund investment strategy and co-investments
Representative Investments
Project Gatsby: Three fund interests (19 underlying companies)
Date: 2025 Geography: North America
Northleaf Angle: Northleaf had a strong due diligence angle through a longstanding relationship with the general partner and was an existing investor in all three funds as well as a co-investor in 7 of the 19 underlying companies.
Secondary
Project Gatsby
Active | North America
Project Hawk: Multi-asset continuation vehicle comprising four companies, each holding a leading or strong position within its respective market
Date: 2025 Geography: Europe
Northleaf Angle: Northleaf has maintained a core relationship with the general partner since 2010, providing access to a small, exclusive syndication process. Northleaf is already an investor in all four assets.
Secondary
Project Hawk
Active | Europe
Project Sapphire: Nine fund interests (124 underlying companies)
Date: 2025 Geography: North America
Northleaf Angle: Northleaf had existing exposure to 5 out of 6 fund managers through its primary or secondary investments.
Secondary
Project Sapphire
Active | North America
Project Space: Single LP stake in an existing a multi-asset continuation vehicle
Date: 2025 Geography: Europe
Northleaf Angle: Northleaf was an existing investor in the continuation vehicle and a long-term primary backer of the general partner.
This article introduces core secondary investment concepts, including the differences between LP-led and GP-led secondaries and factors to consider as investors seek to build exposure to private equity secondary strategies.
In this article featured in Buyouts, Matthew Sparks discusses the current market environment and why mid-market secondaries are well positioned to deliver value in periods of market dislocation.
