Pantheon International PLC

Specialist

Rated Fund 2013-19. A fund-of-funds approach with a spread of risk and reward

Pantheon International was launched in 1987, making it the UK’s longest-established private equity fund of funds. It has grown from £12 million at launch to £1.4 billion today.

Since its inception, it has generated average annual net asset value per share growth of 11.9%, outperforming both the FTSE All-Share (7.8%) and MSCI World (7.9%) indices.

The lead manager is Andrew Lebus, who heads a team of 80 investment professionals. He actively manages risk by carefully selecting high-quality private equity managers to create a balanced portfolio that is diversified by geography, investment stage and sector. Exposure is balanced across buyout, venture and growth, and special situations funds.

Some 43% of the portfolio is invested in secondary investments (buying interests from other investors), which allow the managers to maintain a mature portfolio profile and benefit from the cash distributions that gives the trust its financial strength and investment pace.

Co-investments (participating directly in the purchase of a portfolio company investment alongside a private equity fund) have increased in recent years, from 3% in 2013 to 32% today. These are undertaken alongside private equity managers that are already known to Pantheon and have successful track records of managing assets through economic cycles. The balance is in primary investments (investing in a new fund when it is established).

At the end of 2018, the portfolio was weighted towards the US (56%) and Europe (25%). Its shares have traded on a discount to net assets as wide as 30% and as narrow as 12% in the past three years.

Narrative and ratings content all as of 01 January 2019.

See all Money Observer rated funds

To maximise capital growth by investing in funds specialising in unquoted investments, acquiring existing unquoted portfolios and participating directly in private placements. The Company's policy is to make unquoted investments, in general by subscribing for investments in new private equity funds ("Primary Investment") and by buying secondary interests in existing private equity funds ("Secondary Investment"), and from time to time to capitalise further on its fund investment activities by acquiring direct holdings in unquoted companies ("Co-investments"), usually either where a vendor is seeking to sell a combined portfolio of fund interests and direct holdings or where there is a private equity manager, well known to the Company's Manager, investing on substantially the same terms.

Managers