How We Do It

HVPE provides a complete private markets solution for public investors by actively managing the Investment Portfolio through four key phases of the private equity cycle: Commitment, Investment, Growth, and Maturity. We seek to make sufficient future commitments to ensure continuous investment through the cycle. What does this mean? Please visit our Glossary page for more information.

HarbourVest, the Manager, is an independent, global private markets investment specialist, with over 43 years of experience and more than $147 billion of assets under management as at 31 March 2025.

HarbourVest has long-standing relationships with private equity managers globally, providing HVPE with exceptional access to sought-after funds, secondary transactions, and co-investments that are often unavailable to the wider market.

Prior to 1 February 2025, investments were made as a Limited Partner (“LP”) into funds managed by HarbourVest. From 1 February onwards new investments will be made under a Separately Managed Account (“SMA”) structure whereby capital is invested by a dedicated HVPE vehicle directly into private market opportunities to create a bespoke portfolio that is tailored to HVPE’s requirements.

HVPE maintains a prudent approach to balance sheet management and invests within a set of defined financial ratios with the aim of ensuring that there is sufficient cash or credit available to meet its commitments, whilst also striving to avoid an excessive build-up of cash on the balance sheet.

HVPE takes a long-term view in building and maintaining its portfolio, working to a set of rolling five-year portfolio construction targets aimed at optimising long-term NAV growth. Please visit our Portfolio Diversification page for more information.

Research indicates that the variability of returns in private markets investing is greater than that typically observed in public equity portfolios¹. This is especially true for early-stage venture, where HarbourVest observes that a small number of funds deliver returns dramatically in excess of the median². This means that diversification across multiple funds and investments is critically important for optimising risk-adjusted returns. By following its SAA targets, HVPE believes it has built a well-diversified portfolio.

_{[1] Cambridge Associates, “Building Winning Portfolios Through Private Investments”, 2021.}

_{[2] Research from HarbourVest’s Quantitative Investment Science (QIS) team May 2024. This draws upon HarbourVest’s proprietary data set comprised of HarbourVest investment, due diligence, and monitoring data as well as third party data. Not representative of any HarbourVest fund, account, and is not representative of any HarbourVest investment experience. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.}

HVPE provides effective exposure to a range of HarbourVest’s strategies. Furthermore, within the HarbourVest fund of funds programmes, careful selection gives distinct exposure to many leading, or hard to access, external private equity managers, providing a broad spread of private markets expertise.

HVPE, in effect, provides part-ownership of a broad range of underlying private companies, spanning early stage to more mature businesses. It is the performance of these which drives returns. HVPE is committed to delivering material long-term outperformance in NAV per share as compared with public markets. Ultimately, this is achieved by strong realisations, the proceeds of which are then reinvested into new private markets opportunities.

HVPE delegates the responsibility for sustainable investing to HarbourVest yet retains oversight through regular engagement with the Manager to stay fully abreast of its activities.

HarbourVest’s commitment to sustainable investing is based on a philosophy that has served the Company and investors well for 40+ years: better data drives better outcomes. In pursuit of this objective, our approach to creating sustainable outcomes is underpinned by three enduring pillars: performance, transparency, and alignment.

Transparency and shareholder engagement are the core of our values. HVPE is committed to best-in-class corporate governance to ensure shareholder interests are prioritised. We also value clear and regular communication, providing investors with detailed information about our holdings, investment approach, and results. We host shareholder meetings, webcasts, and publish regular updates via our website to ensure investors have the resources they need to make informed decisions.