Overview and Firm History
Granite Hall Partners ("Granite Hall" or "GHP") is a private fund of funds manager which creates investment vehicles for institutional and high net worth investors. The firm has raised and closed three funds to date and is currently developing a fourth. The firm is based in the Midwest and headquartered in Chicago.
Sports Venture Partners, the predecessor company to Granite Hall Partners, was formed in August 2000 by former NFL player Jim Flanigan and former Washington Redskins executive John Wagner. The firm was initially founded to provide professional athletes and sports executives with the opportunity to invest in a diversified group of sophisticated private equity firms. The firm re-branded as Granite Hall Partners in 2008 to more accurately reflect the wider group of investors it now serves.
Investment Philosophy
The foundation of Granite Hall's investment philosophy is built upon three core beliefs:
- Large private equity managers who have historically outperformed the broader market possess reputations, cultural characteristics and other competitive advantages which will likely allow them to continue that outperformance.
- Inefficiencies exist at the very large end of the private equity marketplace and for highly specialized sector specific or geographically focused (often smaller) firms. This allows top managers to source and execute off-market and unique opportunities not generally available in a more efficient segment of the market.
- A fund of funds portfolio comprised of a limited number of allocations to top-tier managers will likely outperform the general public equity market (as measured by the S&P 500) over a long period of time, while providing diversified exposure to the asset class.
Granite Hall applies these beliefs to its portfolio construction process by anchoring each fund with allocations to large, established and historically successful private equity firms. Simultaneously, the principals at GHP work to identify and invest with specialized managers which they believe possess compelling investment strategies and the potential to deliver premium returns across future funds. |
