Oxford’s Aspirational Investment Solutions reflect our long-standing commitment to providing our clients with unique access to innovative private market investments. Private Equity Co-Investing is one such example. A co-investment is:

• A minority investment in a private company
• Typically led by a private equity fund General Partner (GP), who serves as the deal’s sponsor
• A potentially attractive way to gain exposure to the higher return potential of private equity at a significantly lower cost

2020 has presented its share of challenges for aspirational investing. However, our deep connections in the private equity markets provided a cushion in an otherwise bleak period. Our size, scale and direct investment expertise puts us in a unique position to access promising co-investment opportunities even when conditions are less than ideal. And, our wide network of GP relationships helps us weather difficult markets better than many smaller, less-resourced wealth advisors with fewer channels from which to source compelling opportunities.

Over the years, we have cultivated many strong relationships with leading GPs across the country. It provides us with the unique ability to assess the quality of their people and the thoroughness of their work. In a normal year, our team of Oxford Investment Fellows spends weeks on the road evaluating GPs and the funds they manage. Co-investing with the most promising GPs on individual investments provides an even deeper perspective into a GP’s investment sourcing and due diligence processes—an invaluable “look under the hood” so to speak.

When market shocks occur as in the spring of 2020, the private investment market tends to freeze up, leading to a significant decline in deal activity. COVID-19’s impact on in-person due diligence meant that we could no longer engage in traditional face-to-face meetings. To overcome this challenge, we leveraged technology and our established network of trusted GP relationships to help us source new private equity opportunities.

While the prospects for generating strong returns in traditional public markets (i.e., stocks and bonds) remain challenging, aspirational investing continues to offer significant appeal for those who have access. Looking ahead, we believe Oxford’s aspirational investments will continue to help many clients bridge the performance gap during an environment marked by below average return expectations for most asset classes. For aspirational investments with substantially reduced fees, such as private equity co-investments and majority and minority control investments in direct operating companies, this can be especially true. In the last 20 years, Oxford has invested in over 90 different private market solutions and we remain committed to offering attractive and innovative aspirational investments to continue to enhance the wealth of our families.