Standard Life's listed trust posts 1.3% NAV increase

Standard Life European Private Equity Trust, SL Capital’s listed fund of funds vehicle, recorded a 1.3 percent rise in net asset value for the quarter ended 31st December 2012, as well as a 1.2 percent increase in net assets. At the end of the period, net assets were valued at £374 million (€440 million, $568 million), according to an earnings statement.

Despite those increases, the results painted a picture of a slowed activity on some fronts during the fourth quarter. Distributions received by the listed fund during the period totalled £17.3 million, down 46 percent from the £32 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2012. Draw downs, at £15.4 million, were also slightly below the £15.9 million requested during the previous period. 

This was notwithstanding buoyant activity in the European private equity market towards the end of the year, Standard Life noted: the value of all European private equity transactions during the last quarter totalled £24.6 billion, compared to £13.5 billion over the quarter ended 30th September 2012. 

Distributions received by the company nevertheless generated £9.3 million in net realised gains, while net unrealised gains on a constant rate basis stood at £3.6 million. Taken together, they represented a 0.3 percent improvement on the previous quarter – topped by an unrealised foreign exchange gain of 1.4 percent. 

Standard Life’s listed trust also made a number of fund commitments during the period. It re-upped with Advent International, committing €20 million to Fund VII, which closed on €8.5 billion in November 2012. It was also a returning investor in IK Investment Partners’ latest vehicle, committing €30 million to Fund VII.

The company continued to expand its relationships in the first quarter of this year, making a $35 million commitment to TowerBrook Partners’ Fund IV, which reached its $3.5 billion in February. It also acquired a €7 million LP stake in Charterhouse Capital’s Fund IX, which closed on €4 billion in 2008, as a secondary transaction, and disposed of a €30 million commitment to Charterhouse Capital VIII, a 2006-vintage that raised €4 billion. This activity brought its aggregate outstanding commitments to £182.9 million. 

Created in 2011, Standard Life European Private Equity Trust is a listed fund of funds managed by SL Capital Partners, the fund of funds arm of insurance group Standard Life. 

SL Capital has $8 billion of assets under management, with a focus on North America and Western Europe buyout funds.