Fort Washington Capital Partners Group (FW Capital), the institutional private equity division of Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington), announced the final closing of its ninth diversified private equity fund of funds, Fort Washington Private Equity Investors IX, L.P., and its parallel vehicles (together, Fund IX).
Exceeding our fundraising target for Fund IX in just over a year is a testament to our team's track record, capabilities and strong relationships with our investment partners.
Fund IX closed with $350 million of capital commitments in May 2017, significantly above Fund IX's original target of $300 million. Limited partners include private and public pension plans, university endowments, private foundations, insurance companies, family offices and high net worth individuals. Approximately 90 percent of total limited partner commitments to Fund IX came from investors who had previously invested in one or more FW Capital-sponsored funds.
FW Capital has been making private equity investments since 1999 and, today, manages more than $3.4 billion of client commitments. Since 2003, FW Capital has raised nine fund of funds partnerships totaling more than $1.2 billion in aggregate capital. Five of FW Capital's seven mature primary funds are among the top-performing partnerships in the industry, according to Cambridge Associates.¹
"We are very grateful for the continued trust and support of our investors and their consultants," said Steve Baker, managing director and head of Private Equity. "Exceeding our fundraising target for Fund IX in just over a year is a testament to our team's track record, capabilities and strong relationships with our investment partners. We look forward to continuing our mutually successful relationship with these investors."
Fund IX has been making commitments to private equity partnerships, purchasing direct secondary fund interests and participating in direct investments since its initial closing in 2016. "We are working on a number of promising opportunities from a robust pipeline of deals," Baker said.
Fund IX was formed to make primary and secondary investments in a diversified portfolio of specialized private equity funds that FW Capital believes exhibit an attractive investment strategy. Fund IX represents a continuation of FW Capital's high-conviction investment approach and focus on small-market opportunities. Fund IX has already begun to invest in smaller leveraged buyouts, growth equity, special situations and venture capital funds.
"The market for private equity remains strong," Baker said. "We believe the asset class is a good option for qualified investors who would like exposure to smaller, high-growth companies. In addition, investors in Fund IX will have exposure to a broad array of industry sectors, including business services, health care, information technology and natural resources."
About Fort Washington Capital Partners Group
Fort Washington Capital Partners Group (FW Capital), based in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the institutional private equity division of Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington). Fort Washington is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company (Western & Southern Life) and is a member of Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern). Established in 1888, Western & Southern Life has been investing in private equity since 1984. For more information about FW Capital, visit fwcapital.com.
Today, FW Capital manages diversified funds of funds, secondary funds and customized programs, and provides discretionary advisory services to Western & Southern. As of March 31, 2017, these mandates comprised $3.4 billion in private equity commitments (including commitments managed by Fort Washington's subsidiary, Peppertree Partners, LLC, totaling $41.3 million as of March 31, 2017).
About Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.
Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. (Fort Washington), founded in May 1990, is the money management and primary investment arm of Western & Southern Financial Group with $49.7 billion in assets as of March 31, 2017.² Fort Washington is a registered investment advisor with expertise in fixed income, public equity and private equity. Clients include institutions and high-net-worth individuals throughout the country. For more information, visit FortWashington.com.
About Western & Southern Financial Group
Founded in Cincinnati in 1888 as The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western & Southern Financial Group, Inc. (Western & Southern), a Fortune 500 company, is now the parent company of a group of diversified financial services businesses. Its assets owned ($47.2 billion) and managed ($22.3 billion) total $69.5 billion as of Sept 30, 2017. Western & Southern is one of the strongest life insurance groups in the world. Its six life insurance subsidiaries (The Western and Southern Life Insurance Company, Western-Southern Life Assurance Company, Columbus Life Insurance Company, Integrity Life Insurance Company, The Lafayette Life Insurance Company and National Integrity Life Insurance Company) maintain very strong financial ratings and a Comdex Ranking of 96. Other member companies include Eagle Realty Group, LLC; Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc.¹ IFS Financial Services, Inc.; Peppertree Partners LLC¹; Touchstone Advisors, Inc.¹; Touchstone Securities, Inc.²; W&S Brokerage Services, Inc.²; and W&S Financial Group Distributors, Inc. For more information on the Western & Southern family of companies, visit www.westernsouthern.com. Western & Southern is the title sponsor of the Western & Southern Open (www.wsopen.com), a premier event in the U.S. Open Series played each August by the world's top-ranked professional male and female tennis players.
1 A registered investment advisor.
2 A registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/SIPC.
For current ratings, please visit www.westernsouthern.com/about/financial-information/financial-ratings.
