SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SharesPost, a leading provider of liquidity strategies within the private growth asset class, today appointed a new in-house sales and distribution team to expand access to its suite of investment strategies, including the SharesPost 100 Fund.
Chris Shepherdson was appointed Head of Distribution, and Brett Fowler was named Director of Wholesaling. David Burr, Jim Hermes and Joseph Fernandez were each named Regional Vice Presidents. All five industry veterans join SharesPost Financial Corporation from the previous third-party wholesale distribution partner for the SharesPost 100 Fund.
By bringing the team in house, SharesPost will have an opportunity to streamline investor relations, enhance cost savings and improve service to clients of the SharesPost 100 Fund, a closed-end interval fund that invests in late-stage, venture-backed companies. The Fund offers individuals, family offices, and institutions an effective means to access the venture-backed asset class, which previously was only available to accredited investors.
“We are excited to expand the experience and expertise at SharesPost to continue to meet the growing demand for our investment strategies,” said Christian Munafo, Chief Investment Officer of SPIM. “We believe this step will help address the needs of our clients in a number of ways.”
Deep Wholesaling Expertise
The team’s experience includes the following:
- Chris Shepherdson, CFA, has more than 15 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining SharesPost, he was a Senior Partner and Managing Director of CR Capital Distributors, LLC. Prior to that, he was a Vice President at PIMCO. Shepherdson earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and holds the professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®).
- Brett Fowler has more than 18 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining SharesPost, he was a Regional Vice President at CR Capital Distributors, LLC. Prior to that, he was a Regional Vice President at AXA Distributors, LLC. Fowler earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California.
- David Burr has more than 25 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining SharesPost, he was a Regional Vice President at CR Capital Distributors, LLC. Prior to that, he was a Regional Sales Director at Great-West Financial, a Regional Vice President at Transamerica Capital and a Regional Sales Vice President at MetLife Investors. He began his career at MFS Investment Management. Burr earned a Bachelor’s degree from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. He holds the professional designation of Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor℠ (CRPC®).
- Jim Hermes has more than 18 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining SharesPost, he was a Regional Vice President at CR Capital Distributors, LLC. Prior to that, he served as Regional Vice President for SC Distributors and FS Investments. Earlier in his career, he was a Senior Internal Wholesaler for Hines Real Estate Investments and an independent financial advisor at Ameriprise. He earned a Bachelor of Business degree from the University of Iowa, Tippie School of Business.
- Joseph Fernandez has more than 20 years of financial services experience. Prior to joining SharesPost, he was a Regional Vice President of CR Capital Distributors, LLC. Prior to that, he worked for multiple financial services firms, including Oppenheimer Funds. Fernandez earned a Bachelor’s degree from Mercy College.
About SharesPost, Inc.
SharesPost helped launch the secondary market for private tech companies in 2009 and has built the leading platform for secondary transactions and digital securities. SharesPost provides the private tech asset class with a suite of trading and lending solutions to facilitate shareholder and option holder liquidity. With nearly $5 billion in secondary market transactions in the shares of more than 300 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 and New York City. For more information, visit sharespost.com.
SharesPost Financial Corporation, a FINRA registered broker-dealer and SP Investments Management, LLC (“SPIM”), an SEC registered Investment Adviser, 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.
SharesPost 100 Fund: Important Disclosure
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. For a prospectus with this and other information about the Fund, please call 1-855-551-5510 or visit our website at www.sharespost100fund.com. Read the prospectus carefully before investing.
FINRA and the SEC do not endorse SPIM or any specific securities.
Investment in the SharesPost 100 Fund involves substantial risk. The Fund is not suitable for investors who cannot bear the risk of loss of all or part of their investment. The Fund is appropriate only for investors who can tolerate a high degree of risk and do not require a liquid investment. The Fund has no history of public trading and investors should not expect to sell shares other than through the Fund's repurchase policy regardless of how the Fund performs. The Fund does not intend to list its shares on any exchange and does not expect a secondary market to develop.
All investing involves risk including the possible loss of principal. Shares in the Fund are highly illiquid, and you may not be able to sell your shares when, or in the amount that, you desire. The Fund intends to primarily invest in securities of private, late-stage, venture-backed growth companies. There are significant potential risks relating to investing in such securities. Because most of the securities in which the Fund invests are not publicly traded, the Fund’s investments will be valued by the Investment Adviser pursuant to fair valuation procedures and methodologies adopted by the Board of Trustees. While the Fund and the Investment Adviser will use good faith efforts to determine the fair value of the Fund’s securities, value will be based on the parameters set forth by the Prospectus. As a consequence, the value of the securities, and therefore the Fund’s NAV, may vary. Due to transfer restrictions and the illiquid nature of the Fund’s investments, you may not be able to sell your investments when you wish to do so. There are significant potential risks associated with investing in venture capital and private equity-backed companies with complex capital structures. The Fund focuses its investments in a limited number of securities, which could subject it to greater risk than that of a larger, more varied portfolio. There is a greater focus in technology securities that could adversely affect the Fund’s performance. If the Fund does not have at least 500 Members for an entire taxable year, you could receive an adverse tax treatment. The Fund’s quarterly repurchase policy may require the Fund to liquidate portfolio holdings earlier than the Investment Adviser would otherwise do so and may also result in an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. This is not a complete enumeration of the Fund’s risks. Please read the Fund prospectus for other risk factors related to the Fund, its investment strategy and your investment in the Fund, and other additional details.
SP Investments Management, LLC (“SPIM”) is the Investment Adviser to the SharesPost 100 Fund, and is an SEC registered Investment Adviser. SPIM is a wholly owned subsidiary of SharesPost, Inc., and an affiliate of SharesPost Financial Corporation. Certain potential conflicts of interest involving the Fund’s Investment Adviser and its affiliates could impact the Fund’s investment returns and limit the flexibility of the implementation of its investment policies. New investment opportunities that meet the Fund’s investment objectives might not be offered, or otherwise made available to the Fund, due to affiliations between entities related to the Fund. Prospective investors should review the conflicts of interest described in the section entitled “Conflicts of Interest” in the Prospectus prior to making an investment in the Fund.
The SharesPost 100 Fund is distributed by FORESIDE FUND SERVICES, LLC.
**The Fund is subject to a Fundamental Concentration Policy pursuant to which no more than 25% of the value of its assets may be invested in companies in a particular industry or group of industries. Further, holdings in companies that represent more than 5% of value of Fund’s total assets may not exceed more than 50% of the value of Fund’s assets. The SharesPost 100 Fund is a “non-diversified” investment company, and as such, the Fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer than investment companies that are “diversified.”
