Secondary Link

Overview

Secondary Link is a specialized advisory firm focused exclusively on the private equity secondary market. The firm provides sell-side advisory services to LPs seeking to sell existing fund interests and to GPs structuring continuation fund vehicles and other GP-led secondary transactions.

The private equity secondary market has grown from a niche liquidity mechanism to a multi-hundred-billion-dollar annual market. As transaction volumes and complexity have increased, specialized advisory firms like Secondary Link have emerged to provide the dedicated expertise that these transactions require. Unlike traditional placement agents focused on primary fundraising, Secondary Link’s entire practice is oriented around secondary market dynamics.

Secondary Link’s team includes professionals with backgrounds in secondary market investing, private equity fund management, and institutional advisory. The firm’s principals have executed transactions across a wide range of fund types, vintages, and geographies, giving them practical experience with the valuation, structuring, and negotiation challenges that secondary transactions present.

The firm operates from New York, with coverage across the major institutional investor markets. Secondary Link works with pension funds, endowments, foundations, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, and fund-of-funds that hold existing private equity portfolios, as well as GPs seeking to structure secondary liquidity solutions for their investors.

Fundraising Capabilities

Secondary Link’s capabilities center on secondary market transactions rather than traditional primary fundraising. The firm provides two primary services: LP sell-side advisory and GP-led secondary advisory.

In LP sell-side advisory, Secondary Link helps institutional investors sell existing private equity fund interests to secondary market buyers. The firm manages the entire transaction process, including portfolio analysis, valuation, buyer identification, data room preparation, bid management, and closing. LP sellers engage secondary advisors when they need liquidity, want to rebalance their portfolios, face regulatory changes, or undergo organizational restructuring that necessitates portfolio adjustments.

In GP-led secondary advisory, Secondary Link works with fund managers structuring continuation vehicles. These transactions allow GPs to transfer select portfolio companies from an existing fund into a new vehicle, giving existing LPs the option to sell their interest (to a secondary buyer) or roll into the continuation fund. GP-led secondaries have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the secondary market, driven by GPs seeking to hold high-quality assets beyond original fund terms.

The firm’s buyer relationships span the secondary market, including dedicated secondary funds (Ardian, Lexington, Coller, Landmark, etc.), multi-strategy buyers, and direct secondary investors. Secondary Link’s knowledge of buyer preferences, pricing behavior, and capacity allows it to structure competitive processes that maximize outcomes for sellers.

For the broader fundraising ecosystem, Secondary Link’s work is relevant because secondary market activity directly affects LP capacity for new primary commitments. When an LP sells existing fund interests, it frees up capital and allocation capacity for new fund commitments, creating a link between secondary transactions and primary fundraising dynamics.