Hermes Private Equity

Saker Nusseibeh is the CEO of the wider Federated Hermes Limited, which houses the private equity operation. The private equity team operates with a dedicated investment committee that approves fund commitments and direct co-investments. Key senior professionals within the private markets division manage the sourcing and due diligence of external managers.

The firm leverages its position as a long-standing LP in European private equity to access established and emerging managers. Relationships often originate through the BT Pension Scheme's decades-long history as a major institutional allocator. The team combines quantitative screening of track records with qualitative assessments of GP alignment and operational capabilities.

Hermes Private Equity pursues both fund commitments and direct co-investments. Co-investments are primarily sourced through the GP relationships the firm has built across its fund-of-funds portfolio, allowing it to deploy additional capital alongside managers it already backs without paying incremental management fees.

Hermes Investment Management, including its private equity division, was majority-owned by the BT Pension Scheme until 2014, when a majority stake was sold to Federated Investors, forming Federated Hermes. The BT Pension Scheme remains a minority shareholder and a significant client of the private equity platform.

Federated Hermes operates private equity, infrastructure, and real estate strategies, each with distinct teams. The private equity arm focuses on small and mid-market fund commitments and co-investments in Europe, whereas the infrastructure business runs separate pooled funds targeting direct infrastructure assets globally. The two are managed independently, though both originated under Hermes before the Federated acquisition.

Hermes PE generally targets small and mid-market buyout and growth funds with typical fund sizes between £200 million and £1.5 billion, preferring managers raising first-time to Fund IV vehicles. Commitments often range from £20 million to £75 million, making the firm a meaningful anchor LP for smaller managers.

ESG integration is central to Hermes PE's manager selection process, inherited from the BT Pension Scheme's responsible investment ethos. The firm requires GPs to report on carbon footprint, diversity metrics, and governance practices, and it publishes an annual stewardship report that includes private equity engagement activity through the Federated Hermes stewardship arm.