ADVERTISEMENT

PenderFund Plots Hiring Spree to Drive Private-Markets Strategy

PenderFund Plots Hiring Spree to Drive Private-Markets Strategy

The new president of PenderFund Capital Management Ltd. plans to expand in private assets and hire dozens of new employees over the next two years to help meet ambitious growth targets.  

Carlo Desierto, who joined the Vancouver-based firm in July from Manulife Financial Corp., said it will launch its second venture capital fund as soon as December and is looking for opportunities ranging from real estate to venture debt to mid-market private equity. 

It’s all in pursuit of a long-term strategy to take PenderFund from C$2.2 billion ($1.7 billion) in assets to C$40 billion by 2040. Desierto expects that the firm, which primarily serves retail clients today, will get there by winning more institutional mandates.

“We have to be aggressive,” Desierto said in an interview. “We are looking at other strategies to help grow that private side of the business, and really aggressively looking at some targeted acquisitions to help us grow our mandate there into other asset classes within the private space.”

To implement its plan, PenderFund intends to grow from 60 employees to 80 within a year, and to 200 over the next two years, he said.

Prior to joining the firm, Desierto was a managing director at Manulife’s investment management arm, where he focused on boosting the insurance company’s private markets operations globally. 

PenderFund closed its first venture fund with C$27 million, which is almost fully invested, and is targeting C$100 million for its second one, which will focus on technology health care in North America, Desierto said. 

The firm has also launched two funds in the liquid alternative space this month -- one focused on high yield alternative credit and the other on merger arbitrage opportunities.

“Launching different platforms like this and different funds is what’s going to help us grow,” Desierto said. 

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.