Perseus LLC today announced that it has hired Sheryl Schwartz, former head of alternatives at TIAA-CREF, as a senior managing director. This came a few hours before I blogged about how BC Partners is offering an “early-bird” discount to certain investors in its new fund.
Those two items have nothing to do with one another, except to remind me that Perseus also has an unusual term in its new fund (currently being marketed to existing LPs – newbies will see it soon). I’m told that the firm will basically offer LPs the chance to opt out of up to three specific deals, in an effort to provide flexibility for liquidity-challenged institutions.
Perseus apparently has done this before, but not out of its current fund ($600m, closed in 2006). I wouldn’t expect that most investors take advantage –limited time and resources for due diligence — but it’s yet another sign that some PE firms are doing more than just talking about investor pain…