Adams Street Partners, which has more than US$52 billion of assets under management, has opened an office in Quay Quarter Tower in Sydney. The office will be headed up by newly appointed principal, investor relations, Shaun Thomas.
Adams Street said it is favourably positioned to serve Australia’s $3.4 trillion superannuation market by “building strong relationships on the ground and introducing its investment professionals and their private markets capabilities to the Australian private markets community”.
The new office is Adams Street’s first Australian location and fifth in the Asia-Pacific region, joining Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul, and Beijing. Adams Street now operates 12 offices globally.
“Institutional investors in Australia are increasingly focused on allocating to private markets,” said Ben Hart, partner and head of investor relations (Asia) at Adams Street.
“We are seeing considerable demand from the Australian private markets community for solutions, including custom accounts and evergreen structured products. Shaun’s unique experience and on-ground-access will allow us to better serve this growing market by strengthening our ties with existing clients and the Australian private markets community as a whole, helping us to continue to expand our existing relationships and create new ones as well.”
Mr Thomas, who will report to Mr Hart, has 20 years of experience in financial services and product distribution. He was previously a vice-president at Partners Group Australia, where he managed the distribution of Partners Group’s private markets strategies for private wealth, family office, and wholesale market with a focus on both evergreen and closed-ended offerings.
He also previously spent seven years at Grant Samuel Funds Management as head of research and strategic accounts.
“The Adams Street platform is built upon 50 years of knowledge and relationships, and I look forward to developing and maintaining institutional client and consultant relationships in Australia as we continue to consolidate our presence in this market,” Mr Thomas said.
