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Ziegler Link-Age Management III
Ziegler Link-Age Management III, LLC was formed in 2018 as a collaboration between Chicago-based specialty investment bank Ziegler and Link-Age Ventures.
Ziegler Link-Age Management III
Ziegler Link-Age Management III, LLC was formed in 2018 as a collaboration between Chicago-based specialty investment bank Ziegler and Link-Age Ventures. The fund is designed to pool capital from institutional investors and family offices for direct equity investments in private-pay senior-housing communities, post-acute-care facilities, and related health-and-wellness service platforms. Ziegler traces its senior-living and healthcare focus to 1902, giving this vehicle a proprietary origination pipeline that newer entrants cannot easily replicate. The fund writes equity checks for majority and minority positions in operating real estate, typically acquiring or recapitalizing stabilized properties and selectively funding ground-up development. Asset classes include independent living, assisted living, and memory care, with a secondary emphasis on skilled-nursing facilities and home-health platforms. Geographically, the fund concentrates on Sun Belt and Midwest markets where demographic tailwinds are strongest, with confirmed portfolio exposure in Florida, Texas, and the Midwest. The vehicle operates with a long-duration hold strategy, mirroring the cash-flow profile of the underlying senior-living operations rather than a traditional private-equity exit clock. Ziegler served as placement agent and anchor sponsor. The management company is led by Chief Investment Officer John Hopper, who joined from Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, and operates alongside Ziegler's CEO Dan Hermann. The partnership structure allows the fund to source deals from Ziegler's investment-banking client base — roughly $16 billion in closed senior-living financings over the prior two decades — creating a captive deal pipeline. In September 2023, the firm closed the acquisition of a three-property assisted-living and memory-care portfolio in suburban Chicago, expanding its Midwest footprint. Where many senior-housing funds rely on third-party brokers or sale-leaseback operators, Ziegler Link-Age Management III sources directly from Ziegler's banking mandate flow — effectively a built-in origination engine that runs parallel to the fund. This gives the vehicle a first-look advantage on off-market transactions across a fragmented ownership base, a structural feature that separates it from the open-market bidding common among healthcare REIT aggregators.
General information
Firm type
Other
Year founded
2018
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Chicago
Corporate office
Chicago, IL, United States
Principals
John Hopper
Chief Investment Officer
Dan Hermann
President & CEO, Ziegler
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who is responsible for investment decisions at Ziegler Link-Age Management III?
The fund's investment committee is chaired by John Hopper, who serves as Chief Investment Officer. Prior to co-founding the Link-Age fund platform, Hopper was a managing director at Harrison Street Real Estate Capital, where he focused on senior-housing and healthcare acquisitions. He operates alongside Dan Hermann, Ziegler's president and CEO, who has overseen the parent firm's investment-banking activities in seniors housing and healthcare since the early 2000s.
What is the relationship between Ziegler Link-Age Management III and Ziegler?
Ziegler is a Chicago-based specialty investment bank founded in 1902 that concentrates on healthcare, senior living, and education finance. Ziegler Link-Age Management III is a separate investment-management entity formed in 2018 in partnership with Link-Age Ventures. Ziegler serves as the fund's placement agent and anchor sponsor, and the fund sources a substantial portion of its deal pipeline through Ziegler's investment-banking client relationships.
What asset classes does the fund target?
The fund makes direct equity investments in private-pay senior-housing real estate — primarily independent-living, assisted-living, and memory-care communities. It will also selectively invest in skilled-nursing facilities and post-acute-care assets, as well as health-and-wellness service companies adjacent to its real estate portfolio. The fund does not invest in acute-care hospitals or life-science real estate.
How does the fund source its deals?
The fund benefits from Ziegler's century-long investment-banking presence in the senior-living and healthcare sectors. Ziegler has underwritten and placed roughly $16 billion in senior-living debt and equity financings over two decades, generating a proprietary pipeline of operators seeking capital for acquisitions, recapitalizations, and development. This gives the fund access to off-market and limited-process transactions that are not widely shopped to institutional buyers.
Does Ziegler Link-Age Management III invest in development or only stabilized assets?
The fund principally targets stabilized, cash-flowing senior-housing communities through acquisitions and recapitalizations. It will selectively participate in ground-up development when structured alongside experienced operating partners and pre-leased to operators from Ziegler's existing client network, though development exposure has represented a minority of total deployment.
Is the fund open to co-investments alongside family offices or other institutional investors?
The fund is structured to pool capital from institutional investors, including family offices, endowments, and insurance companies. For larger acquisitions, the manager structures co-investment vehicles that allow limited partners to scale exposure alongside the main fund, though these are syndicated on a deal-by-deal basis rather than through a standing club structure.
What geographic markets does the fund prioritize?
The fund concentrates on Sun Belt and Midwest markets where demographic growth and an aging population support long-term demand for private-pay senior housing. Known exposure includes Florida, Texas, and the upper Midwest, with a focus on suburban submarkets that face limited new supply pipeline and strong local operator presence.
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