CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Fairway Private Equity & Venture Capital Opportunities Fund, a closed-end fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, is off to a strong start announcing 20 investment commitments since its launch in December, 2021. The Fund’s advisor is Fairway Capital Management www.fairwaycapm.com, an investment management firm founded by a team of five colleagues that formerly worked together at Adams Street Partners. The investments reinforce the Firm’s ability to access some leading private equity and venture capital investment opportunities and can help provide significant visibility into the investment strategy.
The Fund provides qualified investors exposure to venture capital and private equity investments through primary, secondary and co-investment strategies that are typically available only to large institutional investors.
Fairway Founding Partner Kevin Callahan issued the following statement:
“Our investment team, led by Kathy Wanner, Tom Gladden and Laura Milligan, has relationships that go back decades with some of the most sought-after venture capital and private equity managers in the world. The portfolio has come together very nicely as the Fund now includes a mix of high-quality venture capital and buyout funds as well as one private credit fund, one secondary investment and two co-investments. Historically, it may have been difficult for qualified individual investors to access high-quality private equity and venture capital investments, let alone in what we believe is a user-friendly structure. We are very excited to deliver these investment opportunities in a ‘40 Act fund structure.”
As a ‘40 Act fund, Fairway Private Equity & Venture Capital Opportunities Fund offers greater flexibility than a traditional, institutionally oriented private equity investment vehicle. The minimum initial investment for the Fund’s Class I shares is $250,000, and follow-on investments can be made starting at $10,000. Investments can be made on a quarterly basis. The Fund’s redemption feature allows for liquidity on a quarterly basis, subject to limitations. Importantly, the Fund features Form 1099 tax reporting, simplifying the tax return process.
The Fairway team includes veteran private equity professionals with total collective experience of 100+ years and deep relationships with many leading private equity and venture capital General Partners. Team members are:
- Tom Gladden was the Founder of Macrosight LLC (2017–2019) and previously was a Partner on the Adams Street Partners Primary Investment Team (2002–2016).
- Kathy Wanner was an advisor to private equity firms (2016–2019) and previously was a Partner and Manager of the Adams Street Partners U.S. Primary Investment Team (1993–2015).
- Laura Milligan was Director of Private Equity for The Boeing Company (2014–2019). In addition, she worked at Mercer Investment Consulting (2010–2014) and Adams Street Partners (2005–2008).
- Kai Moon, Investment Analyst, is a 2020 graduate from Binghamton University’s School of Management.
- Lauren Bozzelli was a Partner on the Client Service, Corporate and Fund Accounting teams at Adams Street Partners (2007–2017). In addition, she worked at KPMG (2004–2007).
- Kevin Callahan was the Chief Operating Officer at Adams Street Partners (1994–2016).
- Patrick McGarvey was a Managing Director at GCM Grosvenor, and previously spent 17 years on Wall Street with senior roles at Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and DLJ.
About Fairway Capital Management
Fairway Capital Management is an investment manager focused on private equity and venture capital investments, headquartered in Chicago. The firm seeks to deliver attractive investment returns utilizing its access-driven strategy while providing excellent client service.
For more information about Fairway Capital Management, please visit fairwaycapm.com or email kevin@fairwaycapm.com.
Glossary of Terms
Primary Investments: Investments in newly established funds.
Secondary Investments: Investments in existing funds that are acquired in privately negotiated transactions.
Co-investments: Direct investment in identified operating companies, typically alongside one or more portfolio funds.
Venture Capital: Investments in new and emerging companies are usually classified as venture capital. Such investments are often in healthcare, internet-enabled or other technology-related industries. Companies financed by venture capital are generally not cash flow positive at the time of investment and may require several rounds of financing before the company can be sold privately or taken public. The Fund’s venture capital investments may finance companies along the full path of development or focus on certain sub-stages (usually classified as seed, early and late stage) in partnership with other investors.
Seed/Early-Stage: Typically involves investments in businesses still in the conceptual stage, or where products may not be fully developed and where revenues and/or profits may be several years away.
Growth Equity/Later-Stage: Typically involves minority investments in established companies with strong growth characteristics. Companies that receive growth capital investments typically are enterprises earlier in their development with some level of revenue and visibility to break-even or positive cash flow.
Buyouts: Investments that provide equity capital for acquisition transactions either from a private seller or the public are usually classified as buyouts. The Fund’s buyout investments may represent the purchase of an entire company, or a refinancing or recapitalization where equity is purchased. Borrowing is often employed in these transactions at the company level. A controlling interest in the company is often, but not always, obtained by the private equity fund or an investor group of which it is a member.
Special Situations/Other Private Assets: A broad range of investments including private debt instruments, infrastructure investments and distressed debt/turnarounds make up a portion of the private equity market. The Fund’s special situations investments may include senior and/or subordinated debt which is secured and/or unsecured and, potentially as a component of the transaction, preferred or common equity, warrants and other securities offered in connection with such debt. The value drivers and cash flow characteristics of these funds are frequently distinct from those of other private equity investments, complementing a buyout and venture capital portfolio.