13 December 2018
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Partners Capital, an outsourced investment office acting for endowments, foundations and ultra high-net-worth families in Europe, North America and Asia, is planning to open a West Coast office in San Francisco in July 2019.
Sudharshan Murugesu, who joined the firm in 2013, will lead the new office. Prior to joining Partners Capital, Murugesu worked at Bain Capital, Marshall Wace and Vantage Investment Management.
"Building out our West Coast presence is the highest strategic priority in the firm today given the role technology will play in the investment world. Asset managers across every asset class should be transforming their businesses in terms of how they source, analyze, and manage their portfolios of investments.
"Every private and public equity investor is looking at companies through more of a ‘technology lens' as they attempt to ascertain ahead of others who will be the winners and losers from digital transformation. To fully appreciate the pace and scale of this transformation, we must have a physical presence in the Bay Area," Stan Miranda, founder and chief executive of Partners Capital, said.
The San Francisco team will take over responsibility for serving many of Partners Capital's existing West Coast clients including the LA Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), The Seaver Institute and several Californian private clients, mostly private equity professionals. Critically, the firm is focused on expanding its footprint with smaller foundations and endowments across the Western States like MOCA.
"There are over 700 California foundations with assets between $100 million and $1 billion, many of which are lagging in performance unnecessarily, due to the difficulty associated with identifying and accessing the very small and rare universe of exceptional active asset managers. Many of these institutions' advisors and investment committees do not have either the capabilities or time to build out a strong stable of asset managers, especially in alternative asset classes such as private equity and absolute return," Murugesu said in a statement.
Miranda's expectation is that the office will start from its current operating location in San Francisco and will be kept small at five to seven professionals by the end of 2019. The West Coast team will be supported primarily by the Boston office of 47 professionals but will also work closely with the other offices.
