Raising from LPs in Australia: How Managers from Outside Australia Get Their First Meetings
If you manage a private fund outside Australia and want to meet Australian LPs, price competitively, avoid January and most of February, and remember that the largest Australian LPs may be easier to meet in North America than in Sydney.
Private Capital Development (PCD) has arranged one-to-one introductions with Australian allocators for managers from the United States, the United Kingdom, Asia and beyond, with steady activity for years. The traffic runs both ways: Australian managers PCD has introduced have met LPs in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Europe. This page sets out what we see around meetings with Australian LPs.
Who allocates to managers from outside Australia
The superannuation funds dominate. Australia’s compulsory retirement system has built some of the world’s largest pension pools, and the super funds are the most frequent Australian LPs in PCD’s record. The Australian institutions that have taken first meetings with managers PCD introduced include:
- Superannuation funds, industry and retail.
- Asset consultants, who advise many of the funds.
- State investment corporations.
- University endowments, where venture managers have found success.
- Family offices and family investment companies, increasingly in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast as well as Sydney and Melbourne.
- Banks and state venture funds.
How a first meeting in Australia works
- Sydney and Melbourne first. They are the primary markets. Brisbane and the Gold Coast are growing in importance, including for family offices.
- The largest LPs are also in North America. Several of the biggest Australian LPs have North American teams. QIC has had a San Francisco office since 2011, and AustralianSuper opened in New York in 2021, where it now employs more than 70 people and runs its global private equity. For a North American manager, the first meeting with a large Australian LP may be in New York or San Francisco, not Sydney.
- Australian LPs travel to you, too. The Australian Government promotes the superannuation industry abroad, and Austrade has organized LP delegations to North America in many years since 2012.
Price is part of the pitch
Australia is a highly price-sensitive market. The super funds serve millions of retail members, and every basis point of cost shows up in what those members retire on. That makes fees a first-order question rather than a closing detail. Manager fees must be very competitively priced.
Two consequences follow. It is a very difficult market for funds of funds, whose second layer of fees works against them. And venture capital is not generally favored by Australian LPs, with one clear exception: university endowments, where venture managers PCD introduced have found success.
When to go
- January and much of February are very difficult: it is summer, and the holidays are long.
- State calendars differ. Public holidays in Victoria are not necessarily the same as in New South Wales, so a Melbourne day off may be a Sydney workday.
- School breaks differ by state as well, and LPs often take family travel during them. Check both states’ school calendars before fixing dates.
Why the room matters in Australia
Australian LPs are far from most managers, and the super funds’ scale means they hear from the largest managers constantly. What an Australian allocator values is a manager it would not otherwise meet, at a price that works for its members, introduced by someone it knows. PCD’s introductions come from Randy Mitchell’s own email address, and many of the allocators who receive them are people he has met in person. Not all of them, but many.
Where PCD's role ends
PCD builds a manager's standing with Australian allocators and arranges the introduction. It does not offer or promote a fund, and it does not solicit investment on a manager's behalf, in Australia or anywhere else. Questions about offering fund interests to investors in Australia belong with the manager's own counsel there.
If you are an allocator checking that a manager is regulated and licensed in its home market, or a manager preparing to be checked, PCD's Global Directory of Fund-Manager Regulators names the regulator and the public register to consult in each major jurisdiction, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission among them.
Private capital associations in Australia
- Australian Investment Council — investmentcouncil.com.au. The national body for private equity, venture capital and private credit, founded 1992 in Sydney. Until 2019 it was the Australian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (AVCAL).
The full, verified list of more than 100 associations worldwide is in PCD's Global Directory of Private Capital Associations.
Frequently asked questions
Do Australian LPs invest in funds managed outside Australia?
Yes. Superannuation funds, asset consultants, state investment corporations, university endowments and family offices in Australia all take first meetings with managers from outside the country.
Why are fees so important to Australian LPs?
Because the superannuation funds serve millions of retail members, and costs flow straight through to their retirement savings. Australia is a highly price-sensitive market; manager fees must be very competitively priced.
Is Australia a good market for venture capital or fund-of-funds managers?
Generally a difficult one. Venture is not widely favored by Australian LPs, university endowments being the notable exception, and a fund of funds’ second layer of fees works against it in a price-sensitive market.
Should I meet large Australian LPs in Australia?
Not necessarily. Several of the largest have North American teams, including QIC in San Francisco and AustralianSuper in New York, so a North American manager may meet them closer to home.
When is the worst time to visit Australian LPs?
January and much of February, during the summer holidays. Also check state public holidays and school breaks, which differ between Victoria and New South Wales.
Looking at investors in Australia?
If you have no relationships there yet, the introduction is the part we do.
Cross-border LP introductionsEducational content only. This page was researched and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy before publication. It is general information, current as of the "Last reviewed" date shown above, and is not legal, tax or compliance advice. Private Capital Development LLC is not a law firm and is not a broker-dealer. PCD facilitates relationships between fund managers and institutional investors, on a flat-fee retainer.
Private Capital Development, a Benefit LLC, is a Maryland-based firm founded in 2018 that connects private capital fund managers with institutional allocators through personal, one-to-one introductions. Capital Mobilization is the name of its capital-introduction practice.