Private Equity Investment Solutions | Our approach

Experience

Our U.S. Private Equity team has invested $2.8 billion to more than 140 buyout funds and 80 direct co-investments.* We offer a wide range of private equity solutions for our clients including pooled funds and separately managed accounts.

*Source: abrdn, all data as of January 31, 2022.

Expertise

Our U.S. Private Equity team has over 115 years of combined investment experience. We have developed a rigorous investment process led by former direct private equity professionals. We are strategically focused on the lower middle market, which we believe to be relatively inefficient versus the broader investment universe.

Resource

We are also able to leverage resources from across abrdn, including industry-leading economic research, a global distribution network, dedicated legal, due diligence, operations, risk and responsible investing teams. This provides our clients with access to the best investment insights from across our whole business.

Program highlights

An active participant in the U.S. lower middle market since 1995
Led by senior team with over 115 years combined private markets experience
Investing in funds, co-investments and secondaries
Partnering with independent sponsors on direct investments
Raised $501M for Aberdeen Standard Private Equity Fund IX in 2021
Raised $556M for Secondary Opportunities Fund IV in 2021 (including associated managed accounts)

What we offer our clients

Information for:

Prospective investors

As one of the world’s leading managers of private markets assets, we can provide our clients access to unlisted investment opportunities worldwide. We offer investors extensive access to opportunities across all key private markets asset classes. We are one of the top 10 private markets managers in the world,* managing assets in private markets solutions worth around $22.4 billion(C$29.0 billion). We are truly global in our reach, with over 400 professionals dedicated to private markets, based in 19 offices around the world.**

All our activities across private markets are driven by three core beliefs:

High-quality research and fundamental investment understanding underpins sustainable outperformance
Connected, collaborative teams deliver better private markets investment outcomes by harnessing their collective expertise
Embedding environmental, social and governance (ESG) and impact investing into the investment process is key to being an active and engaged manager of private markets assets
By adhering to these three principles, we look to generate positive, reliable and sustainable outcomes for our clients throughout all market and economic conditions.

If you are a potential investor and would like to learn more please contact us.

* Source: Willis Towers Watson FTfm - Alternatives Survey December 2016.
**As of December 31, 2019

Current investors

Investor portal login

Fund managers

abrdn has been investing in North American private equity for over two decades. With a core focus on the middle and lower middle market, abrdn has allocated to over 100 funds since 1995. A testament to the firm’s value-add, we have been asked to join the limited partner advisory boards for the vast majority of funds to which we commit. If you are interested in speaking with the U.S. Private Equity team, you can reach us here.

Independent sponsors

As the private equity landscape has evolved in recent years, independent sponsors have continued to become an ever more meaningful part of the broader ecosystem. In our effort to continually identity the best and most innovative investment opportunities in the North American lower middle market we have partnered with independent sponsors on direct investments. Our senior team is led by professionals with deep direct private equity experience allowing us to bring unique perspective and diligence capabilities to independent sponsor sourced investments.

If you are interested in speaking with the U.S. Private Equity team, you can reach us here.

Our team

John Dickie

Co-Head of Private Equity USA

John Dickie is Co-Head of Private Equity USA based in the Boston office. His primary responsibilities include sourcing, evaluating and executing primary investments and co-investments and he is a member of the Investment Committee. John joined the company in 2015 from the FLAG Capital Management heritage team where he held a role of Principal. Prior to joining FLAG in 2010, John was a Principal at Berkshire Partners. Previously, he worked at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners as a Senior Analyst-Private Equity. He began his career with Credit Suisse First Boston as a Financial Analyst in the Investment Banking division. John holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.

Scott Reed

Co-Head of Private Equity USA

Scott Reed is Co-Head of Private Equity USA based in the Boston office. He joined the company in 2015 from the FLAG Capital Management heritage team where he held a similar role as Partner and Head of the Private Equity strategy. Prior to joining FLAG in 2007, Scott was a Principal at Portico Capital LLC, and a Senior Associate at J.H. Whitney & Co. Previously, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. Scott holds an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College and a BA in Economics with Mathematics Concentration from Colby College and the London School of Economics.

Eric Albertson

Senior Investment Director

Eric Albertson is a Senior Investment Director focused on the firm’s US Private Equity strategies. Eric is based in the Boston office and joined SL Capital in 2008. Eric is responsible for primary fund investments, secondary investments and co-investments. Prior to joining SL Capital, he spent eight years at Bank of America Capital Advisors focusing on private equity fund investing. Eric has a BS in Business from Indiana University and an MBA from The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. He is also a CFA charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant.

Whit Matthews

Senior Investment Director

Whit Matthews is a Senior Investment Director focused on the firm’s Private Equity strategies. He is responsible for all aspects of the investment process including portfolio construction and the due diligence and ongoing monitoring of existing and prospective fund commitments, co-investments and secondaries. Whit joined SL Capital Partners in 2009. Previously, he was an Investment Analyst at the University of Pennsylvania endowment allocating to private equity, venture capital, and hedge fund opportunities.

Rob Nagle

Senior Investment Director

Rob Nagle is as a Senior Investment Director focused on the US Private Equity strategy at abrdn. His primary responsibilities include sourcing, evaluating, and executing direct co-investments and fund commitments. Rob joined Aberdeen in 2018 and has spent most of his career in private equity and corporate strategy. Prior to joining abrdn Rob held roles in Corporate Development and Strategy at TripAdvisor. Prior to that, Rob was a Vice President at Altamont Capital Partners, an Associate at Golden Gate Capital, and a Senior Associate Consultant at Bain & Company. Rob has a BS in Applied Math and Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a MS from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Ryan Tiffany

Senior Investment Director

Ryan Tiffany is a Senior Investment Director focused on the US Private Equity strategy at abrdn. Ryan is responsible for sourcing, due diligence and ongoing monitoring of both fund investments and direct co-investments. Ryan joined the company in August 2015 following the acquisition of FLAG Capital Management, LLC. Prior to joining FLAG in 2008, Ryan worked for Alliance Consulting Group as a Consultant, where he executed both pre-transaction diligence and post-transaction operations for private equity-backed companies. Ryan holds a BS in Systems and information Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Andrew Gonzalez

Investment Manager

Andrew Gonzalez is an Investment Manager at abrdn. Andrew is responsible for identifying, evaluating and monitoring the firm's US private equity investments. Andrew joined the company in 2018 from Meketa Investment Group where he was an Investment Associate. Andrew graduated with a BS, magna cum laude, from Babson College with concentrations in Finance and Environmental Sustainability.

Jordan Kempfle

Investment Manager

Jordan Kempfle is an Investment Manager at abrdn. Jordan is responsible for identifying, evaluating and monitoring the firm’s US private equity investments. Jordan joined the company in 2018 from the Partners Healthcare Investment Office where he was an Investment Analyst. Prior to that, Jordan worked for Performance Equity Management as a Financial Analyst. Jordan graduated with a BS in Finance and International business from Fairfield University.

David Van Slyke

Senior Analyst

David Van Slyke is a Senior Analyst at abrdn. David is responsible for identifying, evaluating and monitoring the firm's US private equity investments. David joined the company in 2021 from PwC where he was a Management Consulting Associate focused on M&A. David graduated with a BS in Finance from Georgetown University.

Katie Fink

Portfolio Analyst

Katie Fink is a Portfolio Analyst at abrdn. Katie is responsible for providing investment and business support to the private equity team. This includes monitoring existing investments and portfolios, designing and managing custom portfolio analytics, supporting business development and investor relations efforts, and assisting in preparation for investor meetings including the firm’s annual LP conference. Katie joined the company in 2018 from Brown Brothers Harriman. Previously, Katie worked at SCS Financial and JP Morgan. Katie graduated with a BA in Finance and Operations Management from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2010.

Lucy Rohner

Executive Assistant

Lucy Rohner is the Executive Assistant to Scott Reed and John Dickie, and the firm's U.S. Private Equity Team. Lucy was Executive Assistant at FLAG Capital prior to joining abrdn via the firm’s acquisition in 2015. Prior to joining FLAG in 2015, Lucy held executive assistant roles with a variety of corporations, including Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Copyright and the MA Hydrogen Coalition. Lucy holds a B.A. from Lake Forest College.