M2O’s LP secondaries head departs

The departure of Jake Stuiver comes five months after that of Mike Custar, the founder of M2O's secondaries business, who went to William Blair.

M2O Private Fund Advisors has parted ways with its head of LP secondaries, the second key departure from the firm this year.

Jake Stuiver left the White Plains-headquartered boutique placement agent and secondaries adviser in late August, according to a source familiar with the matter. His next steps are unclear and he could not be reached for comment.

Vice-president Mike Ballou is the most senior remaining member of the LP secondaries team, according to M2O’s website.

It is not clear if M2O will hire a direct replacement for Stuiver. The firm did not wish to comment.

Stuiver joined M2O in February 2021 from Evercore, where he spent seven years working on LP secondaries transactions, affiliate publication Secondaries Investor reported. Prior to Evercore he founded River Street Capital, a boutique secondaries advisory firm.

His departure follows that in April of the founder of M2O’s secondaries business Mike Custar. He joined investment bank William Blair in early April to start a GP-led advisory business. He was joined later that month by principal Quinn Kolberg and former Lazard vice-president Gage Alpert, Secondaries Investor reported.

M2O closed on $2.8 billion of secondaries deals in 2021 across 17 transactions, according to Secondaries Investor‘s annual advisory survey. Thirty-eight percent of that volume was in the LP market.

Affiliate title Buyouts reported in May that M2O was advising on the sale of a $1.5 billion private equity portfolio by Kaiser Permanente. Secondaries Investor understands that a deal got done, the size of which is not clear. Toronto-headquartered secondaries firm Overbay Capital bought some tail-end positions, according to public filings.

“This year, after a gangbusters Q1, persistent public market volatility and macro uncertainty are causing a slowdown,” Stuiver told Secondaries Investor. “Many sellers are keen to launch processes but holding off in hopes of timing the market, which is proving difficult.”