ICG has emerged as lead in a sizable single-asset continuation vehicle as it continues to focus on concentrated GP-led opportunities.
The firm is leading General Atlantic’s single-asset CV for Creative Planning, a wealth management firm that GA acquired a minority stake in five years ago, three sources told Secondaries Investor. Creative Planning offers retirement planning, estate planning, tax services and other financial services. It has amassed $354 billion in combined assets under management or advisement as of December, according to its website.
The CV deal is over $1 billion in size, according to two sources.
Evercore is advising the transaction, Secondaries Investor understands.
New York-headquartered General Atlantic has been a frequent user of CV technology to keep hold of prized assets. The firm’s first continuation fund was the fifth-largest by deal value when it closed in 2021, Secondaries Investor previously reported. At the end of Q3 2024, it launched a $3 billion multi-asset CV for software company EngageSmart, website builder Squarespace, French clothing store Sezane and private equity fund administrator Gen II. HarbourVest Partners led that deal with a $1 billion anchor investment, with Coller Capital and Partners Group also investing, Secondaries Investor reported.
ICG’s participation in the CV for Creative Planning reflects its continued focus on concentrated single-asset opportunities. In March, the firm’s Strategic Equity unit smashed its own record for the largest dedicated pool of capital focusing on GP-led secondaries ever raised, collecting $11 billion for its latest flagship, ICG Strategic Equity Fund V. The vehicle was more than double the size of its predecessor, which closed on $5.3 billion in 2022. Fund V had a target of $6 billion, with ICG increasing the vehicle’s hard-cap, according to a statement and Secondaries Investor data.
ICGSE targets investments generally sized between $500 million and $1.5 billion-plus per transaction, Rob Campbell, head of North America at ICGSE, told Secondaries Investor in January. The assets that the firm pursues for a single-asset CV transaction are typically “trophy assets” that have been held by the underlying GP for over five years, he said.
Secondaries transaction volume reached a record high of $160 billion last year, according to Evercore’s FY 2024 Secondary Market Review. Single-asset CVs accounted for 19 percent of total secondaries transaction volume in 2024, up from 16 percent in the previous year. Nearly two-thirds of secondaries buyers target underwriting single-asset CVs at a gross multiple of invested capital above 2.1x, compared with only 14 percent aiming for the same return threshold on multi-asset CVs, according to the Evercore report.
ICG and General Atlantic decline to comment. Evercore did not respond to a request for comment.
