1. Home
  2. Companies
  3. Saints Capital
SC

Saints Capital

About

Founded in 2000, Saints is a pioneer in the venture secondary market, with a unique focus on GP-led transactions. Saints has executed over 35 portfolio transactions in its history, acquiring over $3 billion of assets. Saints prides itself on taking a partner-first mentality in structuring transactions to align interests for GPs, LPs and early investors alike.

Saints is an investment firm dedicated to providing liquidity to investors in private companies. Saints formed its first fund in 2000, and was a pioneer as a direct secondary fund. Since 2000, Saints has provided liquidity to General Partners and their Limited Partners in Venture Capital and Private Equity funds, to founders and early employees of venture-capital backed companies, and to financial institutions (banks, hedge funds and corporations) who have portfolios of private investments that they have wanted to sell. Saints prides itself on being honest with sellers about pricing and ability to close as well as being flexible in structuring a transaction to meet the needs of a seller - our deals are often structured and can include loans, deferred payments and upside sharing.

The Venture Secondary Market

Over the past decade, the secondary market has grown exponentially from a nascent, opportunistic one when Saints began investing in 2000 to a large, institutionalized asset class today.

The venture secondary market is experiencing tremendous growth currently due to a number of structural challenges in the venture industry, including:

Historic illiquidity for venture-backed companies and for venture funds that has starved limited partners of distributions

Massive buildup of NAV in older funds as a result of increased limited partner commitments into the asset class and increased fund sizes over the past decade

Emergence of GP-led transactions, popularized in the buyout secondary market, which is now being copied by VC-focused secondary firms

Proliferation of single asset secondaries in top VC-backed names is driving other private companies and VC firms to embrace liquidity from institutional secondary firms

Recent success of venture-focused secondary firms in attracting more capital

In addition to these factors, the venture market has seen a mindset shift by venture capital GPs to embrace secondary transactions with financial buyers. It is no longer frowned upon for early investors and founders to seek interim liquidity, and many sophisticated GPs are leveraging secondaries as a critical tool in managing exit liquidity and timing for their own limited partners.

Open roles at Saints Capital

Explore 2 open positions at Saints Capital and find your next opportunity.

SC

Analyst / Associate

Saints Capital

Palo Alto, California, United States (On-site)

$100k – $125k Yearly4w ago
SC

Analyst / Associate

Saints Capital

New York, New York, United States (On-site)

$100k – $125k Yearly4w ago

Similar companies

CA

Capital Allocators

Learn, Share and Implement the Process of Premier Investors by Compounding Knowledge and Relationships We seek to accomplish this through six shared values: 1. Quality We produce Quality work with consistent, meticulous effort that emulates the magic of compounding to create greatness over time. We strengthen this foundation with self-reflection and feedback from others. 2. Entrepreneurial Spirit We have an Entrepreneurial Spirit. We are creative problem-solvers. We act with self-sufficiency, resourcefulness, and proactivity. 3. Intellectually Curious We are Intellectually Curious. We learn, share, and implement the best of like-minded individuals and firms. We seek out diversity of thought and continuously improve. 4. Respect We treat others with Respect. We are fans of each other. We play well in our sandbox, are honest and authentic. 5. Generous We are Generous. We eagerly create connections, knowing our generosity will be reciprocated. We help others reach their aspirations as they support ours. 6. Fun We have Fun. We are focused on the positive in our words and actions. We take ourselves seriously, but not too seriously.

CV

Caruso Ventures

Caruso Ventures LLC is a growing, entrepreneurial organization operating as a single-family office in Boulder, Colorado. We invest across multiple asset classes, including venture capital, private equity, hedge funds, direct investments, real estate, operating companies, crypto, and public securities.

RC

Recast Capital

Our founders experienced first-hand the shift that was taking place in venture and came together with a clear view of what was needed in the industry: an institutional-grade intermediary to help investors access the opportunity presented by emerging managers, and create a way to support those managers in the process. Values are everything. The word “values” today is used too loosely. It’s been watered-down. But for Recast – our team, the funds we support, and the investors we represent – values are everything. Recast’s core values go beyond what we would call foundational principles – integrity, trust, honesty, dependability and determination. While those are imperative, we also believe: Every. Voice. Matters. Be authentic to our mission Bring your true self Be a net positive Pay it forward

BP

British Patient Capital

With more than £3bn of assets under management, our mission is to enable long-term investment in innovative UK companies led by ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build successful, world-class businesses. By focusing on the late-stage funding gap, we are helping to ensure high-growth UK companies have access to the right type of funding at the right time in their life-cycle, supporting them as they expand, create jobs, develop products and enter new markets. A subsidiary of British Business Bank, British Patient Capital invests on a commercial basis to deliver competitive returns and manage risk. As a long-term, responsible investor into venture and venture growth funds, we are building the UK patient capital ecosystem while demonstrating that a patient capital investment approach can produce commercially attractive returns.

TI

Tiger Iron Capital

We are true partners with the institutions we serve, and the managers with whom we invest. Our long-standing relationships with many of the more notable venture capital firms in the nation, coupled with our experience across market cycles, provide us with coveted access and an informed, long-term perspective. Those relationships also speak to our value as advisers to firms both old and new. All of which serves our mission to identify and back venture capital funds that have the energy, vision, knowledge and resources to capitalize on new, breakthrough waves of technology that will create market leading companies. We are providing our investors and the managers in whom we invest with benefits accruing from over 65 combined years’ involvement in the venture capital industry –Access, Experience and Acumen. Our unique investment structures defy the traditional fund-of-funds model, allowing our institutional investors greater collaboration and control of portfolio construction – all done at historically low fee rates that reflect a variable cost infrastructure developed with 21st Century technologies. CREATIVE, THOUGHTFUL AND BESPOKE ACCESS TO HIGH-PERFORMING VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDS Sophisticated institutions are interested in a more customized and targeted approach to venture fund investing. We believe that close collaboration with our investors is important to achieving desired returns and portfolio objectives. We listen to each investor and thoughtfully select investments that achieve their goals. We work with a small number of large institutional investors and provide them meaningful access to venture capital funds. We offer semi-discretionary, separate account fund management, where investors maintain a degree of control of commitment decisions to ensure each investment fits within their larger portfolio. Our extensive experience includes working within the policy and reporting requirements of a variety of investors, including public pension plans. And we believe that alignment of interest with our investors is a necessary requirement. We are in the business for the promise of returns from investments, not the hope of rich fees from increasing assets under management. SOLVING FOR PROBLEMS IN THE TRADITIONAL FUND-OF-FUNDS MODEL We service just a few large institutional investors very well, and maintain a focus on our highest-performing venture relationships. The venture capital fund investing business is not very scalable. Firms that raise large blind pools and maintain broad venture firm relationships invariably are forced to back median performers. Our bespoke portfolio development model incorporates the best aspects of traditional fund-of-funds with customized, collaborative venture investment selection. “Blind pool” venture funds-of-funds still work well in specific instances, but they generally have become less desirable in a maturing investor landscape. Given the lack of control and visibility of investments and pacing, it’s difficult to know how they fit within an investor’s larger portfolio. Our approach to portfolio development includes active collaboration with our investors to ensure each investment fits well in the context of their broader portfolio objectives. We charge very competitive fees without sacrificing the quality of investments. The traditional fund-of-funds fee drag can be significant, as fees are usually charged on committed capital from the outset. Our fee schedules are designed to minimize the J-curve effect of fees and more directly match fees with commitments. Our variable cost, out-sourced infrastructure model allows us to focus staffing on core competencies and leave fund administration and other functions to best-in-class expert service providers. Legacy fund-of-funds organizations have high fixed-cost infrastructures that require them to continually “feed the beast”. We do not feel pressure to increase assets under management simply to maintain an existing cost base. WHO WE INVEST IN Tiger Iron endeavors to invest in the best venture capital firms in the world. We are fortunate to have partnered with many elite managers, several of which have become perennial powerhouses within the world of venture capital. Those relationships have given our investors exposure to some of the most transformational companies ever created. We seek to invest in venture firms focused on formative stages of company development. While our portfolio skews toward the early stages, we also invest in multi-stage funds with a proven ability to build a portfolio of truly ground-breaking companies. In addition, we have the flexibility to be an additional source of downstream capital for venture firms as a co-investment partner whenever those opportunities arise and can be mutually beneficial. Tiger Iron also believes that some of the most innovative investment strategies are often pioneered by new or under the radar teams that have yet to be recognized. We are frequently hunting for unique managers that we believe have the potential to become leaders in the industry. FOSTERING DEEP RELATIONSHIPS WITH VENTURE FIRMS We understand that venture is a people business and goes far beyond simple capital flows. We invest in people as much as we do in their strategy, vision, and track record. In that regard, we consider our venture managers to be our peers and we strive to build deep, mutually beneficial partnerships that transcend the historical norms of limited partner/general partner relationships. As an investor across the entire venture spectrum, we have a unique industry vantage point that can generate meaningful insights that we openly share with our venture managers. In breaking historical standards, we engage our managers with a great deal of transparency and accessibility, much like we do with our own limited partners. CRAFTING COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIPS We are highly collaborative with our managers and strive to be true partners with them. In doing so, we work hard to be supportive and provide mentorship on best practices wherever it may be valuable. We also openly facilitate introductions upstream and downstream across our diverse network of investors, venture relationships and entrepreneurs. Smaller venture managers can often become constrained in their ability to “lean in” on their best investments as companies mature and graduate beyond the scale of the managers’ existing pool of capital. As a co-investment partner, Tiger Iron can be a source of follow-on capital -- thereby providing managers with additional resources whenever it may be appropriate. DEPENDABLE SOURCE OF CAPITAL In an ever-changing industry with many participants, Tiger Iron Capital is seen as a stable source of patient, long-term capital coupled with deep sector expertise. In contrast, many institutional investors focus on a myriad of asset classes and their commitment to venture can oscillate. Others are often seen as “tourists” and go in and out of the asset class as market conditions vary. We are fortunate to have institutional limited partners that share our commitment and long-term vision for the asset class.

LC

LGT Capital Partners

LGT Capital Partners is a global multi-alternatives platform with USD 80 billion in assets under management and more than 600 institutional clients in 43 countries. An international team of over 650 professionals is responsible for managing a wide range of investment programs. Our stable ownership structure enables us to build long-term partnerships with clients. As a principal investor in our own strategies, we are well aligned with our clients, with whom we develop long-term partnerships.