EP Wealth Advisors

The firm focuses on secondaries: purchasing limited-partner interests in private equity, venture capital, and real asset funds. It targets stakes sold by original investors seeking liquidity before fund termination, typically acquiring these positions at a discount to the latest reported net asset value. The strategy is embedded within a registered investment advisor framework, distinguishing it from dedicated secondary mega-funds.

EP Wealth Advisors is a registered investment advisor, placing it under SEC oversight and subject to fiduciary standards. It has grown through rolling up regional wealth-management practices, using acquisitions to expand its advisor network and geographic reach. This structure blends traditional financial planning with institutional-style secondaries investing.

The firm emphasizes small to mid-sized LP interests across buyout, growth equity, and venture capital funds, primarily in North America. By focusing on deal sizes that larger secondary buyers bypass, it seeks pricing inefficiencies and less competition. The underlying fund portfolios are vetted for manager quality and asset-level exposure.

Sourcing stems largely from relationships with financial advisors who identify clients needing liquidity from illiquid fund holdings. These sellers are often individuals, family offices, or small institutions. This advisor-network model generates consistent, off-market deal flow that is not typically accessible through broad auction processes run by investment banks.

It operates as a traditional registered investment advisor with a national footprint, not a single-family office. Its capital does not derive from one family's wealth; instead, the firm manages assets for a broad client base, including individuals, families, and institutions. The secondaries strategy is one component of a larger wealth-management platform.

The firm's typical transaction involves direct purchase of LP stakes, though it may participate in syndicated secondary transactions when deal size warrants. Its niche in smaller-balance secondaries means many transactions are bilateral, negotiated directly with the selling limited partner. Specific co-investment structures are not broadly detailed in public communications.

Unlike stand-alone secondaries managers that raise blind-pool funds, EP Wealth Advisors deploys capital through its wealth-management platform, integrating advisory relationships with deal sourcing. This hybrid model aligns a fiduciary wealth-management business with opportunistic principal investing. The firm's acquisition-driven growth also provides a built-in distribution network for sourced deal flow across multiple offices.