Ardian, a worldwide private investment firm with $180bn in assets, has introduced Ardian Access, an investment vehicle designed to provide accredited US investors direct access to private equity opportunities that are traditionally reserved for institutions.

Ardian Access, incorporated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, provides flexible and diverse access to Ardian’s secondary, primary, and direct co-investment strategies. The fund is aimed at investors looking for greater access to private markets and to diversify their portfolios through global exposure.

With a minimum investment of $25,000, Ardian Access is intended to appeal to a broader variety of accredited investors than standard private equity offerings. The fund will be evergreen, allowing for ongoing inflows and prompt capital deployment, which is uncommon in private markets.

The fund will use Ardian’s secondary and co-investment platforms, which collectively manage more than $104bn. Over the last four years, the firm’s secondaries team has negotiated more than $40bn in transactions, while its co-investment arm has supported more than 140 portfolio businesses alongside top sponsors.

Moreover, the fund is designed to mitigate the common obstacles that private market investors experience, such as the J-curve effect, by investing in a diverse portfolio of global private assets managed by established General Partners across many sectors and locations.

Mark Benedetti, Executive President at Ardian stated: “Ardian’s Private Wealth Solutions team has experienced remarkable growth by strategically responding to the evolving needs of private investors and wealth managers and is a vital part of Ardian’s positioning in private markets. Ardian Access represents our continued expansion, bringing our proven track record in secondaries and co-investments to sophisticated investors seeking scalable solutions.”  

Michael Bane, Head of Americas Investors Relations and Senior Managing Director at Ardian added: “Creating Ardian Access LLC was necessary and logical. We wanted to serve Ardian’s core competencies to a broader audience, allowing private wealth investors access to the performance our institutional investors have benefitted from since our inception. We seek to provide clients with broad, global private markets exposure to help fill the gaps in their portfolios – this vehicle delivers a professionally managed solution that brings to bear even more of Ardian’s differentiated expertise.”

According to the firm, investors will benefit from Ardian’s enormous proprietary database, which includes over 650 GP’s, 1,600 funds, and 10,000 portfolio firms, as well as insights from over 125 private markets specialists operating in 20 global offices.

Furthermore, Ardian has already tested this approach in Europe, having successfully launched Ardian Access FCPR in France. Following the US debut, the business will launch Ardian Access SICAV-RAIF, a Luxembourg-based evergreen fund with a similar investment strategy, to accommodate growing global demand. This move represents a key milestone in Ardian’s continued growth into the private wealth market, which was formerly controlled by institutional capital and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

The offering is still subject to regulatory approvals and consultations with relevant employee representative bodies.

Sign up for our daily news round-up!

Give your business an edge with our leading industry insights.