Coller Capital
Coller Capital is a global investment firm specializing in the secondary market for private assets, focusing on private equity and private credit secondaries, and managing $46 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2025.[1][2] Founded in 1990 by Jeremy Coller in London, the firm has pioneered innovations in the secondaries industry, including the first general partner-led (GP-led) secondary investment in 1996, and has invested nearly $18 billion across over 100 transactions.[1][3] Headquartered in London, with offices worldwide including in New York, Hong Kong, and Singapore, Coller Capital employs a team of 321 professionals dedicated exclusively to secondaries, fostering a culture of innovation and low turnover that has sustained 35 years of consistent performance.[1] The firm has raised eight flagship Coller International Partners funds (CIP I-VIII) and the Credit Opportunities I fund, which was the world's largest secondary fund for private credit at launch, helping to transform secondaries from a niche strategy into a mainstream asset class.[1] Under Jeremy Coller's leadership as Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Coller Capital continues to drive industry growth, recently securing a strategic minority investment from State Street Investment Management in November 2025 to support expansion toward a $100 billion assets target.[3][2][4]History
Founding and Early Development
Coller Capital was founded in 1990 by Jeremy Coller in London as a specialist firm focused on secondary transactions in private equity assets.[1] Prior to establishing the firm, Coller had spent five years at the ICI Pension Plan, where he pioneered the acquisition of private equity secondaries, recognizing the untapped potential of this market to provide liquidity to limited partners (LPs) seeking to divest their interests in illiquid private equity commitments.[5] Widely regarded as the "godfather of secondaries," Coller's vision positioned the firm to capitalize on the emerging secondary market, which at the time was nascent and offered opportunities for institutional investors to acquire discounted portfolios from sellers needing immediate capital.[3] The firm's early activities centered on building expertise in LP-led secondary transactions, where it advised and facilitated sales of limited partnership interests on behalf of LPs. In 1995, Coller Capital launched its inaugural fund, Coller International Partners I, securing $84 million in commitments and marking one of the first dedicated European secondaries vehicles.[6] This fund targeted the growing demand for liquidity solutions in private equity, enabling the firm to establish a track record through opportunistic acquisitions of undervalued assets. A key innovation came in 1996 when Coller Capital completed its first general partner (GP)-led secondary investment, two decades before such transactions became a mainstream strategy in the industry.[1] This deal highlighted the firm's forward-thinking approach to restructuring GP-managed portfolios for continuation and value optimization. By the late 1990s, Coller Capital had expanded its deal flow to include both LP-led and GP-led secondaries, culminating in a landmark 1998 transaction: the acquisition of a $265 million private equity portfolio from Shell's US Pension Trust, which was the largest secondary deal of its era and underscored the firm's growing reputation for executing complex, high-value transfers.[7][8] These early efforts during the 1990s solidified Coller Capital's role as a pioneer in industrializing the secondaries market into a viable asset class.[9]Expansion and Key Milestones
Following the successful launch of its early funds, Coller Capital experienced significant growth in the 2000s, marked by progressively larger capital raises that solidified its position as a leader in private equity secondaries. In 1998, the firm closed Coller International Partners II (CIP II) at $240 million, establishing the first specialist secondaries fund with a global mandate.[10] This was followed by CIP III in 2000, which raised $712 million, and CIP IV in 2002, closing at $2.6 billion—the largest secondaries fund at the time and more than double its initial target.[11][12] These funds enabled the firm to scale its investment activities, focusing on providing liquidity solutions in the secondary market. The trajectory continued into the 2010s with even larger vehicles, culminating in CIP VII in 2015, which raised $7.15 billion, exceeding its $5.5 billion target and allowing for comprehensive liquidity offerings to major investors worldwide.[13] By 2021, Coller Capital achieved another milestone with the closing of CIP VIII at $9 billion, including co-investment vehicles, which was the largest dedicated secondaries fund to date and backed by over 200 institutional investors.[14] This expansion reflected the firm's deepening expertise in secondary transactions, with cumulative investments reaching nearly $18 billion across over 100 deals by 2025.[1] In parallel, Coller Capital diversified into credit secondaries, launching Coller Credit Opportunities I (CCO I) in 2022 with $1.4 billion in commitments, pioneering liquidity in private credit portfolios as early as 2008.[15] The strategy gained momentum with CCO II in 2025, closing at a record $6.8 billion, nearly five times the size of its predecessor and targeting senior direct lending opportunities.[16] Recent developments have further accelerated growth, including the 2023 launch of a dedicated private wealth strategy, which raised nearly $4 billion by mid-2025 to broaden access to secondaries for high-net-worth investors.[17] In 2024, the firm introduced CollerEquity, an open-ended vehicle providing diversified exposure to private equity secondaries, with initial net assets exceeding $800 million.[18] That same year, Coller Capital established the Secondaries Institute, a digital platform advancing education and research in the secondaries market to support advisors and investors.[19] Key 2025 transactions underscored the firm's momentum in credit secondaries, including a $1.6 billion LP-led acquisition of a senior direct lending portfolio from American National in April, one of the largest such deals on record.[20] This was followed by leading a $3 billion continuation vehicle for TPG Twin Brook Capital Partners in August, recapitalizing a diversified loan portfolio, and a $2.3 billion vehicle with Benefit Street Partners in September, extending a prior fund's assets in a landmark single-fund transfer.[21][22] In November 2025, Coller Capital secured a strategic minority investment from State Street Investment Management to fuel growth and innovation in secondaries, aiming for $100 billion in assets under management.[2]Business Overview
Investment Strategy and Focus
Coller Capital specializes in the secondary markets for private equity and credit, acquiring interests in existing funds and portfolios to provide liquidity to limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs) seeking to exit positions ahead of their natural term.[23] This approach allows sellers to realize value from illiquid assets while enabling Coller to acquire diversified portfolios at potentially attractive valuations, often capitalizing on market dynamics where liquidity needs create pricing opportunities.[9] The firm engages in a variety of transaction types, including LP-led portfolio sales where investors divest entire commitments or portions of their allocations, GP-led single-asset deals that restructure specific holdings, and continuation vehicles that transfer mature assets into new funds for extended management.[23] These transactions span private equity funds focused on buyouts, venture capital, and growth equity, as well as credit strategies, with examples including large-scale LP portfolio acquisitions and innovative GP-led restructurings.[24] Coller's investment strategy emphasizes exploiting pricing dislocations in the secondary market, achieving diversification across investment vintages, geographies, and sectors, and employing long-term holding periods to realize value through active portfolio management and market recovery.[23] This disciplined approach seeks to generate risk-adjusted returns by balancing exposure to established assets with selective opportunistic buys, maintaining a global footprint that includes North America, Europe, Asia, and emerging markets like India.[1] The firm has evolved its strategy to encompass private credit secondaries, targeting opportunities in direct lending, mezzanine, distressed debt, special situations, and venture debt funds, where secondary transactions are increasingly driven by portfolio rebalancing and liquidity demands in a maturing credit market. This expansion builds on Coller's private equity expertise, offering investors access to high-quality credit assets through LP-led sales and GP-led continuation vehicles.[25] Risk management is integral to Coller's process, involving rigorous due diligence on underlying assets, including detailed assessments of portfolio quality, manager track records, and market conditions, alongside strategic market timing to enter transactions during periods of dislocation.[23] By 2025, Coller Capital manages $46 billion in assets under management and has completed over 100 secondary transactions, providing exposure to numerous funds and thousands of companies worldwide.[1][2]Organizational Structure and Global Presence
Coller Capital is led by Jeremy Coller, who serves as the firm's Founder, Chief Investment Officer, and Managing Partner, overseeing strategic direction and investment decisions since establishing the company in 1990.[3] The organization is structured around specialized teams, including dedicated investment groups focused on private equity secondaries and credit secondaries, which form the core of its operations as the largest team globally devoted exclusively to secondaries investing.[1] Complementing these are distinct units for research through the Coller Research Institute, which conducts in-depth analysis of private capital markets, and ESG integration via an ESG Committee and Sustainability Working Group that embed environmental, social, and governance factors across investment processes and firm-wide practices.[26][27] The firm employs 321 professionals as of 2025, drawn from diverse backgrounds to foster innovation and expertise in secondary markets.[1] This workforce emphasizes a collaborative culture with low turnover, prioritizing specialized knowledge in private equity and credit transactions while promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion as key drivers of long-term success.[1] Headquartered in London at Park House, 116 Park Street, Coller Capital maintains a global footprint with 11 offices worldwide to support its international operations.[28] Key locations include New York for North American activities, Hong Kong and Singapore for Asia-Pacific coverage, Seoul for Korean market engagement, Zürich and Luxembourg for European expansion, and Melbourne and Sydney for Australian presence, alongside outposts in Beijing and Montréal.[28] Coller Capital serves a client base primarily comprising institutional investors seeking customized liquidity solutions in private markets, alongside family offices and high-net-worth individuals through its private wealth offerings.[29] The firm cultivates long-term partnerships with these clients, aligning interests through consistent performance and tailored secondaries strategies across private equity and credit.[30]Funds and Investments
Private Equity Secondaries Funds
Coller Capital's flagship private equity secondaries funds are the Coller International Partners (CIP) series, which have been the cornerstone of the firm's investment activities since 1995. These funds specialize in acquiring interests in existing private equity funds and direct stakes from limited partners (LPs) and general partners (GPs), providing liquidity solutions in the private markets. By November 2025, commitments across the CIP funds exceed $40 billion, reflecting the firm's growth and investor confidence in its secondaries expertise.[6][31] The CIP funds include the following vintages and sizes:| Fund | Vintage | Size (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| CIP I | 1995 | $84 million |
| CIP II | 1998 | $240 million |
| CIP III | 2000 | $712 million |
| CIP IV | 2002 | $2.6 billion |
| CIP V | 2007 | $4.8 billion |
| CIP VI | 2012 | $5.5 billion |
| CIP VII | 2015 | $7.15 billion |
| CIP VIII | 2021 | $9.01 billion |