HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited (“HVPE” or the “Company”) a listed investment company which allows shareholders to access a diversified global portfolio of high-quality private equity investments, managed by HarbourVest Partners (“HarbourVest” or the “Manager”) This structure affords investors the performance benefits of private markets investments without many of the hurdles of traditional structures such as high minimum investment requirements and illiquidity.
HVPE offers investors the chance to gain exposure to a wide range of private market strategies including growth and venture, private equity buyouts, infrastructure and private credit. We believe that having exposure to a wide range of private market strategies is vital for maximising long-term returns and reducing risk. Historically, there has been a significant degree of rotation between which private asset class has performed each year meaning that having exposure to a range of strategies is required to capture the best asset class performance.
Additionally, HVPE’s portfolio is managed by, HarbourVest, a highly experienced private markets investment expert that offers exceptional global access to hard to access opportunities.
HVPE is listed on the London Stock Exchange, so shares can be traded using a broker or investment platform.
A guide on how to invest in HVPE shares is provided here
Historically, HVPE invested as a LP in HarbourVest’s commingled funds and co-invested in select secondary deals. As of 31 January 2025, it held stakes in 61 HarbourVest funds and 16 secondary co-investments. From 1 February 2025, new investments are made via a separately managed account (“SMA”), allowing direct investment into third-party General Partner funds, secondary opportunities, and co-investments through a dedicated HVPE vehicle.
From 1 February 2025, HVPE transitioned from making commitments via co-mingled funds to making investments via a dedicated SMA vehicle managed exclusively on its behalf by HarbourVest.
Under the SMA structure, HVPE will be the sole investor in a dedicated SMA vehicle. Capital will be committed in annual tranches directly into third-party General Partner funds, secondaries, and co-investments. The asset allocation process will remain largely unchanged with the Strategic Asset Allocation targets continuing to be reviewed on an annual basis by the Investment Committee who advise the HVPE Board.
The key benefits of the SMA are as follows:
- Improved Flexibility: HVPE will have increased influence on the timing and mechanics of liquidity events in the portfolio. As the sole investor in the dedicated HVPE SMA vehicle, the may, for example, ask the to explore a sale of underlying assets via the secondary market should the HVPE Board believe this to be in the best interests of shareholders as a whole.
- Reduced Overall Debt: The Company’s overall exposure to debt will reduce, with borrowing at the HarbourVest fund level expected to decline materially over time as the funds in HVPE’s existing portfolio mature and pay down debt. Furthermore, the Company’s pipeline of unfunded commitments to HarbourVest funds is also expected to decline, leading to more predictable cash flows and a reduced need for borrowing at the HVPE level.
- Exclusive Access: HVPE will continue to benefit from first-in-line allocation to high-quality investment opportunities within the Manager’s stable As a result, HVPE will continue to provide public market investors with access to a broad range of attractive private markets opportunities through HarbourVest.
- Cost efficiency: There is no expected management fee or carried interest increase despite the more tailored structure.
As with HarbourVest’s comingled funds, there are two elements to the fees it charges. There will be no expected increase in the level of HarbourVest’s fees, despite the more tailored nature of the new structure.
- Management fee: The proposed management fee on HVPE’s SMA, at 60 basis points on NAV, is no greater than the current effective blended management fee rate incurred on HVPE’s existing portfolio of HarbourVest funds (equivalent to 62 basis points in the year ending 31 January 2025).
- Carried Interest: The carried interest terms are substantially similar to the existing arrangements. HarbourVest will charge carried interest on the secondary and direct co-investment portfolios held within the SMA, at rates of 12.5% and 13.25% respectively, subject to a hurdle of 8% internal rate of return (“IRR”) Investments in each annual SMA tranche are pooled together for the purposes of calculating carried interest, effectively treating each tranche like an individual “fund”. No HarbourVest carried interest will be charged on primary investments
HVPE will retain its existing stakes in the HarbourVest funds, so the SMA fee and carried interest will be combined with the fees on the funds in HVPE’s reporting from the current financial year onwards.
HVPE’s portfolio is diversified by geography, sector, and stage, spanning early-stage venture/growth and later-stage buyouts. Early-stage managers include Insight Partners, Index Ventures, and Andreessen Horowitz; buyout exposure includes Thoma Bravo, Hellman & Friedman, and TA Associates. The portfolio also covers other strategies like infrastructure, with GPs such as Corsair Capital Infrastructure Partners and Arcus Infrastructure Partners.
The transition will be phased with existing fund positions continuing to be managed as before, whilst new commitments will be made using the SMA vehicle.
You can find more information here: www.hvpe.com/portfolio/structure-of-hvpe/
The portfolio offers investors a complete private markets solution providing investors with diverse exposure to over 1,000 private companies and a range of private markets strategies.
A current breakdown of the portfolio by stage, strategy and geography can be found here: Portfolio Diversification | HVPE
A list of our largest 25 portfolio company exposures by percentage of Investment Portfolio Value can be found here: Top 25 Company Exposures | HVPE
HVPE’s exposure to companies is through HarbourVest-managed funds, which invest indirectly in companies via structures such as co-investments, secondary transactions, or other funds managed by experienced General Partners (“GPs”).
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.
Information of HarbourVest’s approach to sustainable investing can be found in their annual sustainable investing report: HarbourVest Sustainable Investing Report 2024 - HarbourVest
HVPE’s Board is now fully independent, with no representatives from the Manager, following a multi-year governance transformation to align with best practice in the investment company sector.
HVPE’s Board is dedicated to observing the best standards of corporate governance within the investment company sector, introducing the following initiatives in recent years:
- The transition to a fully independent HVPE Board, with no representatives from the Manager.
- The introduction of a strict nine-year tenure policy for directors.
- The first Listed Private Equity Fund of Funds Investment Company to introduce a Continuation Vote at the 2026 Annual General Meeting (“AGM”). This will give shareholders the opportunity to express their views and decide on the Company’s future.
These changes were informed by independent shareholder perception studies, which the HVPE Board commissioned to better understand investor expectations.
The HVPE Board continues to monitor governance standards closely and is dedicated to maintaining transparency, accountability, and alignment with long-term shareholder value.
HVPE’s ongoing charges were 0.98% of average NAV for the financial year ended 31 January 2025.
This figure was made up of the management fee payable to HarbourVest (0.62%), and the trust's other administrative expenses (0.36%). These charges are borne by the Company and as such are not paid directly by shareholders.
The Ongoing Charge Figure was calculated in accordance with the Association of Investment Companies recommendations. Full details of these costs can be found in the Key Information Document: Key Information Document | HVPE
The latest NAV and share price performance figures for HVPE as well as its benchmark, the FTSE All-World Total Return Index, can be found in the monthly factsheet: Estimated Monthly NAV | HVPE
HVPE carries its investments at fair value in accordance with US generally-accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”). HVPE’s Manager uses the best information it has available to estimate fair value. Fair value for private equity assets is based on the most recent financial information provided by the Manager, adjusted for known investment operating expenses and subsequent transactions, including investments, realisations, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, and changes in value of public securities.
HVPE publishes its NAV on a monthly basis.
As announced on 1 February 2024, the HVPE Board established a Distribution Pool to fund buybacks or to return capital to shareholders by means of special dividends. The Distribution Pool has been funded by a proportion of the cash realisations from the Company’s portfolio, with this proportion set initially at 15%. The Distribution Pool accumulates on a rolling basis, up to a maximum balance set by the HVPE Board.
As further announced on 30 January 2025, the HVPE Board decided to double the allocation of cash realisations from HVPE’s portfolio to the Distribution Pool, increasing it from 15% to 30% with effect from 1 February 2025. The Distribution Pool can be deployed for share buybacks and/or special dividends at the sole discretion of the HVPE Board but as announced on 1 February 2025, the current expectation is that it will be used for share buybacks.
The HVPE Board’s intention is to optimise the long-term total return for shareholders through the cycle while preserving the strength of the balance sheet. The Distribution Pool allocation will be reviewed annually, and the HVPE Board will continue to monitor the situation closely to ensure that the best possible outcomes are achieved for shareholders.
Further educational information on HVPE and private markets can be found in the Education Centre section of our website.
If you have any questions on HVPE you can find contact details here.
Note: The value of any investment made in the shares of HVPE and the income from any such investment can go down as well as up, and the investor may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance cannot be relied on as a guide to future performance.
