Meketa Capital – a newly launched subsidiary of Meketa Investment Group focused on delivering private markets investment solutions to financial intermediaries and their clients – recently announced additional equity ownership in the firm and the appointment of several individuals to the firm’s Board.
Effective February 1, Meketa Capital entered into an agreement with East Bay Merchant Partners, the investment arm of the Widger family office. And in this agreement, Ashley Widger, through the entity AEW, has become an equity owner and growth capital provider to Meketa Capital. Plus, Michael Bell, CEO of Meketa Capital, has become an equity owner of the firm, effective February 1. Meketa Investment Group continues as majority owner of Meketa Capital.
Launched earlier this year, Meketa Capital markets and distributes investment services and products to Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) and other financial intermediaries in the retail marketplace. The firm’s offerings include managing and distributing interval funds and, in the future, may include delivering model portfolios, managing customized private market fund vehicles, and providing other investment services.
In the new role, Widger appointed her father and business partner, Chuck Widger, as a Meketa Capital’s Board member. And Chuck Widger founded and ran Brinker Capital for over 30 years, growing the firm into a $26 billion full-service investment management company. After Brinker Capital’s 2020 merger with Orion Advisor Solutions, Chuck Widger stepped down from that role. Noreen Beaman and Phil Green, former CEO and CFO of Brinker Capital, will be advisors to the Meketa Capital Board.
Along with expanding its equity ownership and welcoming new Board members, Meketa Capital has furthered its affiliation with privately held registered investment advisor Primark Capital, announcing that the Primark Private Equity Investments Fund has been renamed as the Primark Meketa Private Equity Investments Fund, effective January 1. And the change reflects Primark’s deeper strategic relationship with Meketa.
This continuously offered closed-end interval fund is designed to provide exposure primarily to the middle market segment of the private equity asset class and to privately held companies that have recurring revenue and positive cash flow, diversified across geography, industry, vintage year and private equity sponsor. And there has been no change to the Fund’s investment policy, objective, strategy, CUSIP or mutual fund ticker symbol (PMPEX).
KEY QUOTES:
“On behalf of the Widger family office, I am thrilled to become a stakeholder in Meketa Capital and to help contribute to the firm’s continued growth. With its deeply experienced investing team and private markets expertise, Meketa is ideally suited to help individual investors access private markets opportunities via the RIA channel. I look forward to working closely with Michael Bell and the entire Meketa Capital team to grow the firm’s product offering and further expand its RIA relationships, with the goal of helping additional individual investors achieve their investment objectives.”
— Ashley Widger
“These changes solidify our long-term strategic plan by ensuring the firm has the financial resources and experienced team to be a leader in expanding access to private markets investing for financial intermediaries and their clients. I am confident that Meketa Capital is positioned to even more effectively and efficiently serve the financial advisor community and to meet the needs of today’s sophisticated individual investor.”
– Michael Bell, CEO, Meketa Capital
