Growing the GP at Pace

Posted on May 12, 2021. Filed under: Uncategorized |

When we started Pace, Chris and I were very focussed on laying a foundation and creating a platform that would be the most attractive place for ascendant GP level investment talent to practice their craft over the long term. Every decision we made, we contemplated ourselves as the first two customers of a platform that would ultimately be equally owned and controlled by a GP of 4-5 people. Selecting partners into an equal partnership is a high stakes decision for all parties involved. What you gain in talent attraction and non-zero sum dynamics, you give in the form of extremely expensive false positives. As such, we try to create as much surface area and as many touch points with potential GPs as possible, irregardless of whether they would be joining for fund 2 or fund 5…we know that GP recruiting will be one of our highest priorities for the life of our firm…a constant pursuit as opposed to a small set of transactions.

We raised our first $150M fund about 6 months before the pandemic hit. Needless to say, we did not predict such an unusual inaugural year, but for the most part we’ve been able to execute well against our highest priorities. About 3 months into lockdown, however, Chris and I accepted that we weren’t going to be able to advance our GP discussions in the absence of safe, in person time with others. Chris and I sat together for almost a year before starting Pace, making sure we were deeply aligned, and the idea of attempting to reproduce that through a Zoom window seemed rather impossible. Of course, some of our GP conversations are with people we have known for a long time, which makes it easier, but still, we believed that in person time was a requirement for everyone involved to make the right decision. If I look at today, the one area where I feel Pace is behind what I would have anticipated at onset, it’s in growing our partnership.

But with vaccine penetration on the rise, our team fully vaccinated, our friends and colleagues starting to travel, cases in NY falling off a cliff, and an overall sense that in person time together is once again an asset and not a liability, we have a renewed focus on developing this element of the firm. GP recruiting has always been the first agenda item of every partner meeting we’ve ever held at Pace, but it’s incredibly exciting that those discussions are once again highly actionable. If we know you and you are excited about the prospect of joining Pace as an equal GP…great…let’s start spending time together again. If we don’t know you, whether you are 6 months or 6 years away from making a move..great…let’s start spending time together now (jordan@pacecapital.com). One thing we are certain of, is that there is no substitute for time spent. Look forward to more of it with all of you.