William Blair Launches Private Shares Trading

William Blair has announced the launch of its private shares trading practice to provide liquidity to buyers and sellers of private company equity.

Leading the new effort for William Blair is Managing Director Anthony Frascotti who returned to William Blair in November 2022 (he previously worked at Blair from 2015 to 2018) from Boston-based private marketplace developer Forge Securities, where he was the firm’s head of capital markets. Also joining the private shares trading practice as managing directors are former Forge professionals Matt Giunta and Julian Gendels.

“We are thrilled to join William Blair’s respected equities team,” said Mr. Frascotti. “The firm’s approach to its research, sales and trading capabilities aligns seamlessly with our private trading business and should offer immediate synergies to the bank as a whole.”

The private shares trading team will work with Blair’s existing institutional equity group to execute direct secondary transactions for venture-backed companies across the funding lifecycle.

Buyers of private shares include venture and secondaries funds, hedge funds, mutual funds, pension plans, endowments and foundations, family offices, and insurance companies; and the sellers include venture or secondaries funds, employees of private or venture-backed companies with shares to offer, angel investors and financial advisors.

“Private shares trading brings further liquidity solutions to holders of venture-backed securities and allows greater private markets access for William Blair’s institutional client base,” said Scott McLaughlin, William Blair’s head of equities. “Collectively, Tony, Julian and Matt have executed transactions in hundreds of venture-backed companies and bring a level of expertise in the private market that will be accretive and synergistic with our existing research sales, sales trading, and equity capital markets capabilities.”

William Blair is a global investment banking and asset management firm headquartered in Chicago. The independent and employee-owned firm has offices in 19 other cities, including London, New York, Shanghai, and Zurich.

© 2023 Private Equity Professional | February 2, 2023