SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SharesPost, the leading provider of liquidity to private growth companies, today announced that Christian Munafo, a private equity executive with extensive experience in secondary market investments, has been named Chief Investment Officer of SharesPost’s Registered Investment Advisor and will join the senior management team.
Munafo has 19 years of experience in finance. During the past 14 years, he has focused on secondary investments involving venture-backed and growth equity-oriented companies and funds and has served on the boards of many of these companies and funds. Before joining SharesPost, he was Co-Head of the Global Private Equity Secondary Practice at HQ Capital based in New York. Prior to that, he served as Head of Secondaries at Thomas Weisel Partners. In total, Munafo has helped raise more than $1 billion globally from institutional investors, corporations, pensions, endowments and family offices. In addition, he has overseen more than 100 secondary transactions representing over $1 billion in capital. These include a wide range of traditional purchases of limited partnership interests, as well as complex transactions, such fund restructurings, recapitalizations, tender programs, preferred equity/loan facilities and purchases of company securities.
At SharesPost, Munafo will lead the investment team and help set the strategic direction for the firm’s investment management platform. This will include management of the SharesPost 100 Fund, a closed-end interval fund investing in late-stage, venture-backed companies, and the launch of new investment funds. He will also collaborate with the rest of the SharesPost team on the creation of liquidity solutions for private growth companies, general and limited partners, and other participants in the venture capital and growth equity ecosystem.
Greg Brogger, Founder and CEO of SharesPost, said: “Christian is a highly accomplished executive and a great addition to our team. We look forward to leveraging his secondary transaction expertise to drive the performance of our funds. Our clients will also benefit from the innovative investment products we plan to build under Christian’s leadership.”
Jeff Miller, President and COO of SharesPost said: “Christian’s appointment to the investment team significantly enhances SharesPost’s ability to scale its fund management business and partner with leading distribution platforms and other financial services firms.”
Munafo said: “I am thrilled to be working for the company that helped create the secondary market for private growth companies. Having spent over 14 years developing complex liquidity solutions for the venture capital and growth equity ecosystem, I believe technology and product innovation is central to creating a more efficient capital market for private companies and funds. SharesPost is uniquely positioned to lead that innovation, and I look forward to leveraging its solutions to better service the liquidity needs of all participants in this market.”
About SharesPost, Inc.
SharesPost is a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, SEC-registered Alternative Trading System (ATS) and Registered Investment Advisor. SharesPost helped launch the secondary market for private tech companies in 2009 and has built a leading platform for secondary transactions. SharesPost provides the private growth asset class with a suite of liquidity solutions. With nearly $5 billion in secondary market transactions in the shares of more than 290 leading technology companies, SharesPost provides the trading, research and online tools to transact in the private market with confidence. SharesPost has trading operations with licensed brokers in San Francisco, Menlo Park, and New York City. For more information, visit sharespost.com.
Securities transactions are conducted through SharesPost Financial Corporation, a member of FINRA/SIPC. SharesPost Financial Corporation and SP Investments Management are wholly owned subsidiaries of SharesPost Inc. Certain affiliates of these entities may act as principals in such transactions.
Investing in private company securities is appropriate only for those investors who can tolerate a high degree of risk and do not require a liquid investment.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The matters described herein contain forward-looking statements. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about research on late-stage, venture-backed companies. SharesPost cautions that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or other factors beyond SharesPost’s control. SharesPost undertakes no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.
