Private Credit & Fund Structuring
April 1, 2025
Helping the Launch of a $12 Billion Growth Equity Powerhouse
When two investors left London to launch their own fund, Blue Lakes helped turn it into one of Europe's largest growth equity names.
Some of the most compelling opportunities in asset management come at the very start, when a talented team strikes out on its own. When two standout investors left a well-known London manager to build something of their own, Blue Lakes took on the challenge of helping the new venture gather assets in Switzerland. Over the years that followed, we accompanied the fund's rise from a modest launch to a $12 billion firm and one of Europe's most recognized names in global growth equity.
The new manager was born out of the ambition of two talented individuals who exited a well-established, well-known manager based in London to launch their own venture. A large Canadian manager backed the project as its seeder, giving the emerging team the institutional foundation it needed to get off the ground.
What the team still needed was a partner who could open doors in a competitive market and introduce the strategy to the right investors. That is where Blue Lakes came in.
Backing an emerging manager means backing conviction before consensus. The team had pedigree and a clear strategy, but as a newly independent venture it had yet to build a name of its own with Swiss investors. Blue Lakes embraced the challenge of establishing that presence and helping the fund gather assets across the Swiss market.
Over four years, we ran an extensive roadshow program, visiting all of the major financial cities in Switzerland to bring the strategy directly to investors and build relationships on the ground. This sustained, in-person presence allowed us to introduce the team, communicate its edge, and grow investor confidence as the fund built its track record.
Strong fund performance did the rest. As results came through, momentum built quickly, and we were able to convert growing interest into growing commitments.
The trajectory was remarkable. With the benefit of strong performance, Blue Lakes helped drive a rapid expansion of assets under management, which grew from $80 million to $3 billion in just three years. The fund continued to scale at pace, reaching $12 billion by its eighth anniversary.
Blue Lakes accompanied that growth until the firm reached the point of internalizing its own sales team, a natural milestone for a manager that had grown into an institution. Today, the fund stands as one of the largest and most recognized global growth equity funds based in Europe, and its early Swiss investor base traces back to the foundations we helped put in place.
