About Serone

• Founded: 2019

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

• Strategy: Private credit and structured finance, Europe

• Track record: Launched with €500m across three credit funds in its first 18 months; reported €1.6bn in AUM as of 2022

Serone has launched a buyout secondaries strategy with senior hires from Ardian and UBS to co-lead the effort. The London-based manager, which built its business in private credit and structured finance, is expanding into GP-led and LP-led secondary transactions with a debut fund now in market. The move marks a deliberate diversification beyond credit for a firm that raised roughly €1.6bn in its first three years.

The launch comes as secondaries volume reached $142bn in 2024, up 18% year-over-year, driven by LP portfolio management needs and GP-led continuation vehicles. Serone's timing coincides with a crowded new entrant class — at least six credit-native managers launched secondaries strategies in 2024, including Antares Capital and Benefit Street Partners. That cluster reflects two forces: credit managers seeking deployment outlets as direct lending spreads compress, and a perception that secondaries pricing has decoupled from underlying asset risk in overheated auctions.

The question is whether Serone's credit diligence toolkit translates to buyout secondary underwriting, where the skill is less aboutStructCo mechanics and more about reading GP incentives in continuation fund structures. Ardian and UBS alumni bring relevant experience, but the firm will compete for deals against Lexington, Coller, and HarbourVest — all with 20+ year track records and pre-existing LP relationships that drive proprietary dealflow. If Serone can source transactions through its credit LP base or European mid-market focus, it carves a lane; if it competes in the same Setter-run auctions as the incumbents, differentiation becomes harder to demonstrate.

Source: Private Debt Investor