• Hammer, Sanabria join expanded private funds advisory group from Manulife
• Will focus mainly on GP-led opportunities within full-service secondaries advisory firm
• Hammer sees market evolution amid secondary buyer specialization

The rapid growth of GP-led secondaries in recent years has fueled an advisory arms race among investment banks. Some have acquired specialist secondary advisory firms, while others have focused on targeted recruitment to gain market share.

Moelis is pursuing the latter approach, following the hires of secondaries veterans Jeff Hammer and Paul Sanabria as managing directors, both of whom most recently co-led secondaries investment efforts, having previously founded and co-led Houlihan Lokey’s illiquid financial assets practice.

The plan is to build a full-service secondary advisory firm, though the pair will focus mainly on GP-led secondaries deals, in particular continuation vehicles (CVs), given their expertise in that area.

“We’re going to focus on creating liquidity for our clients across the board ­– primarily sponsors but also institutions,” Hammer told Mergermarket.

The secondaries group will sit within Moelis’ expanded private funds advisory business, to be led by Matt Wesley, formerly global head of Jefferies’ private capital group. In addition to secondaries, the group will focus on primary fundraising and what it describes as bespoke liquidity solutions, according to a press release.

Hammer views Moelis’ platform as highly entrepreneurial, deeply connected to the sponsor community, and committed to investing in the space.

“That combination made it the ideal next chapter for us,” he said.

Hammer and Sanabria had moved to Manulife from Houlihan in late 2019 to build a platform focused exclusively on GP-led secondaries. Manulife’s debut Strategic Secondaries Fund achieved a final close in April 2024 with USD 610m in commitments and a mandate to target CVs with three or fewer assets, as previously reported.

The pair have been business partners in the secondaries market for over two decades and plan to draw on their experience participating in a broad range of transactions during that time.

“The advisory environment demands creativity, pattern recognition, and muscle memory, all of which we bring to the table,” said Hammer.

The move comes at a time of rapid growth for the secondaries market, which most broker analysis estimated to be over USD 150bn in deal volume last year. The growth of the GP-led market is being driven by increased need for liquidity solutions among sponsors.

“There is a significant subset of private equity investors whose programs are suffering,” Hammer added. “The asset class hasn’t produced the cash flow necessary to fund their investment programs.”

The GP-led market is also evolving. Greater investor specialization is coming into play as capital flows into the market from new entrants such as traditional sponsors. Meanwhile, sovereign wealth funds and other LPs are also building programs. The increased specialization is helping to diversify the opportunity set.

“Some sponsors have trophy assets and simply want to hold them longer while allowing existing investors to enjoy some liquidity,” said Hammer. “Other sponsors have strong assets that may have suffered in the current environment and may need additional capital.”

Both of these segments of the market are firmly established, with investors beginning to differentiate their approaches in ways that match the market landscape, he added.