Evercore, Stone Point seed vehicle targeting alternatives firms

A consortium including boutique investment bank Evercore Partners and private equity firm Stone Point Capital has launched HighView Investment Group, a $600 million (€422 million) vehicle focused exclusively on purchasing minority interests in independent alternative asset managers.

Evercore has committed $150 million to HighView, which will target alternative firms with more than $2 billion in assets including real estate, hedge funds, private equity, distressed debt, high-performance equity and fund of funds.

Ralph Schlosstein, founder of asset management giant BlackRock, will lead the platform. Schlosstein has committed $50 million to the new firm, according to a statement from Evercore.

New York-based Evercore said it expects HighView to grow into “a significantly larger company” from its current capital base.

Evercore, which maintains an in-house private equity arm called Evercore Capital Partners alongside its advisory services, recently issued debts and warrants worth $120 million to Japanese investment bank Mizuho Corporate Bank to fund the investment boutique’s general build-out and geographic expansion.

HighView’s sector focus is a familiar one to Stone Point, which targets investments in the insurance and financial services industries, including alterative asset managers. The Greenwich-based private equity firm spun out of professional services company Marsh & McLennan in 2005.

Other consortium members were not disclosed.