Third Party Placement Agent · Australia & APAC
Founded in 2024 by a thirty-year institutional markets practitioner, PresCap24 offers something the established placement agent market cannot: relationships built inside Australia's largest investment offices — not cultivated from the outside. A new practice. Anything but a new network. Services span primary fund placement, investor relations, and secondaries advisory.
The opportunity
PresCap24 was founded in May 2024. That is worth addressing directly, because when an international fund manager evaluates local placement agents, they will find several established firms that can point to years of mandates, named fund manager relationships, and demonstrable capital raised.
PresCap24 cannot offer that — yet. What it offers instead is something more rare: relationships with the decision-makers at Australia's largest institutions, built over thirty years as a practitioner sitting inside the investment process, not alongside it. The CIOs and heads of investment at the funds that matter. That is a different kind of access — and for the right fund manager, a more valuable one.
Established placement agents typically cultivate institutional relationships from the outside — through events, dinners, and scheduled briefings. PresCap24's relationships with CIOs and heads of investment at Australia's largest superannuation funds were built over twenty years as a trusted counterparty inside their investment process. That is a different quality of access entirely.
Every established placement agent carries an existing book of fund manager relationships — which means divided attention, competing mandates, and the commercial pressure of an incumbent roster. PresCap24 is building its placement practice from a standing start, with complete focus on a small number of genuinely chosen managers. That undivided commitment is rare, and increasingly valuable.
When PresCap24 introduces a fund manager to a CIO, the conversation begins from peer-level credibility earned over thirty years — not the credibility of a career placement professional. For managers whose story requires genuine understanding to be told compellingly, that difference is decisive. Australia's best institutional investors notice it immediately.
Founded May 2024
After twenty years leading Citigroup's Asia-Pacific Transition Management business — and thirty years operating at the most senior levels of Australia's institutional investment community — Michael Jackett-Simpson made a deliberate choice: to build something new, independent, and wholly conflict-free.
PresCap24 is, by design, a new practice. The existing placement agent landscape in Australia is well-established — several credible firms with long track records, named fund manager relationships, and demonstrable capital raised. PresCap24 cannot yet offer that, and will not pretend otherwise.
What it offers instead is a practitioner who spent three decades being trusted by the very people it now seeks to introduce you to — built not through placement, but through being a genuine counterparty inside their investment process. The CIOs and heads of investment at the funds that matter are known personally. When PresCap24 calls, those calls are taken.
For the right manager, at the right moment, that is worth more than a longer list of prior mandates.
How we compare honestly
PresCap24's network is deepest with CIOs and heads of equities at Australia's largest superannuation funds — built through two decades of transition management. For private markets and alternatives allocators specifically, relationships are being actively developed, introduced through those CIO connections. We are transparent about this distinction.
What sets us apart
Most placement agents come to this role from a career in asset manager distribution — years of representing products, building relationships through sales cycles, and measuring success by AUM gathered. That background shapes how they are perceived by the institutional investors they call on.
PresCap24 comes from a different place entirely. For twenty years, Australia's largest superannuation funds and their asset consultants engaged Michael Jackett-Simpson not to be sold to, but to help them execute their own investment decisions. That distinction — trusted adviser versus product salesperson — is felt immediately by the people who matter, and it changes every conversation.
Transition management is structurally different from asset manager distribution. The fee comes from the institution — the super fund — not from a product being sold. For twenty years, PresCap24's founder was engaged by Australia's largest investors and their asset consultants to help implement their decisions. That positions him as a fiduciary counterpart, not a vendor. That trust does not evaporate when the mandate changes.
The typical placement agent career path runs: BDM at an asset manager → senior BDM → independent firm. Those individuals are skilled, but they are known to institutional investors as people who have always had something to sell. PresCap24's founder has no such legacy. His credibility with CIOs was built by solving their problems, not by promoting a product. That is a categorically different starting point for any introduction.
Australia's leading investment consultants — JANA, Frontier, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson — wield enormous influence over institutional allocation decisions. PresCap24's relationships with these firms were not built through sales calls. They were forged through years of working alongside them on complex transition mandates, where both parties were jointly accountable to the same super fund client. That shared experience creates a fundamentally different quality of trust.
Transition management sits at the intersection of portfolio construction, trading, risk, and investment consulting — one of the most technically demanding disciplines in institutional markets. Twenty years leading that practice across APAC means PresCap24 can engage credibly on the operational and structural dimensions of a manager's proposition, not just its narrative. That depth materially changes what is possible in a due diligence conversation.
Sustained presence and reputation management in the Australian institutional market — not transactional capital raising. Building your brand with investors, consultants, and industry networks over successive fund vintages creates a platform that compounds in value, making each successive fundraise materially easier than the last.
PresCap24 operates with a hard ceiling of three external manager mandates at any one time. Not a guideline — a firm limit. Beyond three, the quality of attention, the integrity of introductions, and the depth of relationship maintenance cannot be sustained at the standard this model requires. Every client receives the full, undivided weight of the practice. If you are considering PresCap24, understanding whether a slot is available is the first question worth asking.
The process
Every mandate begins with a rigorous mutual assessment. PresCap24 takes on a limited number of engagements to ensure each manager receives fully senior attention. Engagements are structured as retained relationships with success-fee components, ensuring complete alignment with your capital raising outcomes.
We assess each fund rigorously — strategy, track record, team, back-office, and fit with Australian investor preferences — before accepting a mandate. Selectivity protects the relationships that make this model work.
We develop a bespoke investor target list and tailored Australian narrative — adapting the fund's story for local audience expectations, accounting for regulatory context, asset consultant framing, and peer alternatives.
Introductions made personally, with context, from a position of trust earned over decades. PresCap24 attends meetings, navigates investment committee processes, manages consultant engagement, and handles follow-up diligence.
Post-commitment, we continue managing the local investor relationship — reporting, re-up conversations, co-investment opportunities, and ensuring the fund retains and deepens its Australian LP base across successive vintages.
Investor access
Capital allocation decisions in Australian institutions are rarely made by a single person. They involve investment teams, CIOs, asset consultants, investment committees, and ultimately boards and trustees. Genuine placement requires access to all of these layers simultaneously.
PresCap24's relationships span the full decision chain — cultivated over thirty years of being inside the institutional investment process, not on its periphery. We know who influences which decisions, how each institution's governance works, and how to navigate these processes efficiently on your behalf.
Beyond the institutions themselves, we maintain deep and active relationships with Australia's leading investment consulting firms — a critical and often underestimated channel for accessing institutional capital at scale.
Australia's largest asset pools — industry, retail, and corporate funds managing A$100B+. Access at CIO, portfolio manager, alternatives team, investment committee, and board trustee level.
Investment consultants who advise Australia's largest super funds on manager selection and portfolio construction. Coverage of JANA, Frontier, Mercer, WTW, and others is essential — and often the gateway to institutional mandates.
Australia's leading multi-family offices and private wealth platforms managing significant alternative allocations for sophisticated wholesale investors, including direct relationships with principals and CIOs.
Multi-manager platforms and diversified alternatives funds providing efficient access to broader retail and wholesale investor segments at scale, with established due diligence and governance frameworks.
What we offer
End-to-end third party placement and distribution services for international fund managers across private equity, private credit, infrastructure, real assets, and alternative strategies. PresCap24 also maintains a dedicated secondaries advisory capability — providing liquidity solutions for both LPs seeking exits and GPs managing portfolio transitions. Every engagement is bespoke, senior-led, and built on relationships earning trust for decades.
Primary fund raising in the Australian market — sourcing, engaging, and securing commitments from institutional and wholesale investors across superannuation, family offices, and platforms. Managed as a complete mandate, not a referral service.
For managers considering an Australian presence for the first time — market intelligence, regulatory framing, competitive landscape analysis, and bespoke positioning before capital raising commences.
Dedicated coverage and engagement with Australia's leading investment consultants — research presentations, DDQ support, and sustained relationship management to build and maintain approved status across the key advisory firms.
Ongoing management of existing Australian investor relationships post-commitment — reporting coordination, re-up campaign management, co-investment facilitation, and event coordination across fund vintages.
Adaptation of fund materials for Australian institutional audiences — pitch books, DDQ responses, investment committee briefing documents, and asset consultant research submissions calibrated to local expectations.
For Australian institutional LPs — superannuation funds, family offices, and platforms — seeking liquidity in existing private fund interests. PresCap24 provides independent advisory on secondary sale processes: valuation context, buyer identification, process management, and execution support. As allocation programmes mature, the secondary market has become an essential portfolio management tool for Australian institutions, and navigating it well requires relationships on both sides of the transaction.
Relationships built and tested across multiple investment cycles and market environments — from the Asian financial crisis to the GFC, through the zero-rate era and beyond. Institutional investors value advisors who have been present through cycles, not just in the current one.
Having worked with institutional investors through periods of expansion and retrenchment, we understand how allocation priorities shift across cycles — and how to position international managers appropriately for the current environment.
Full market coverage spanning Australia's institutional channels — superannuation funds, sovereign and quasi-sovereign entities, university endowments, and multi-family offices — with New Zealand coverage available where mandates require it.
Fund criteria
PresCap24 operates with a maximum of three active external manager mandates at any one time. That number is not a reflection of capacity — it is a deliberate choice about quality. Three managers can receive genuinely senior, fully focused, relationship-driven attention. Four cannot.
Each slot is assessed carefully — for strategic fit, for the quality of the fund's proposition, and for the likelihood of a successful Australian institutional outcome. We are best placed to represent managers whose strategy, provenance, and investor profile align closely with what Australia's institutional community is actively looking for. We are particularly focused on managers with authentic sustainability credentials, reflecting the depth of institutional demand in that area.
The practitioner behind PresCap24
Founder · PresCap24
Over three decades of institutional markets experience — from active portfolio management at ING Investment Management to institutional equity sales at Morgan Stanley, to building and leading Citigroup's Asia-Pacific Transition Management and Portfolio Solutions business as Managing Director for sixteen years.
PresCap24 was founded in May 2024. The relationships that underpin it — with CIOs, heads of investment, and senior executives across Australia's largest superannuation funds — were built over the preceding thirty years as a practitioner inside those institutions, not from the outside. That foundation is the practice's principal asset.
The deepest relationships run through the equities and transition management world — reflecting twenty years of Citi work. For private markets and alternatives specifically, new relationships are being actively developed, typically approached through existing CIO connections. That process is underway, and the entry point — the CIO — is the right one.
"A new practice is not the same as an inexperienced one. The relationships that matter in this market took thirty years to build. PresCap24 begins from that foundation."
Independent practice encompassing third party fund placement, institutional capital markets advisory, and private markets consulting. Representing select international managers seeking Australian and APAC distribution.
Led Citi's APAC Transition Management and Portfolio Solutions business across the full regional footprint. Built deep relationships across Australia's largest superannuation funds, asset managers, and institutional investment offices — relationships that form the foundation of PresCap24's institutional network.
One of the earliest practitioners of transition management in APAC — headhunted from Morgan Stanley to build Citi's specialist capability at the intersection of portfolio trading, execution, and institutional investment consulting.
Institutional equity desk covering Australian and global equities, futures, and derivatives for Australia's leading institutional investors — cementing relationships across the buy-side institutional community.
Member of the Global Equities team responsible for managing over A$2B in funds under management within ING's leading active management platform — providing the buy-side foundation that informs all subsequent institutional advisory work.
Know the market
For international fund managers considering Australia for the first time, understanding who the investors are — and how they make decisions — is the essential starting point. Australia's institutional market is large, sophisticated, and highly concentrated. A relatively small number of organisations control an enormous proportion of investable assets.
The following provides an orientation to the key players and decision-making infrastructure that any serious Australian distribution effort must navigate.
AUM figures approximate and as publicly reported. Australia's superannuation system is compulsory — 12% of wages — driving consistent inflows regardless of market conditions and making Australian institutions among the most stable and long-horizon LPs globally.
Asset consultants are often the gatekeepers to institutional mandates in Australia. Many of the country's largest superannuation funds require a fund manager to be on their consultant's approved list before an allocation can proceed. Building relationships with these firms in parallel with direct investor engagement is essential — and frequently underestimated by international managers entering the market.
Begin the conversation
Most mandates begin with a straightforward conversation. If you are an international fund manager considering Australian distribution — or simply want to understand what that market opportunity looks like from someone who has been inside it for thirty years — reach out directly.
PresCap24 operates a selective intake process. We are not the right partner for every manager, and will be direct about that. Where the fit is genuine, we act as a committed, senior, long-term partner in your Australian capital raising programme.
For international fund managers exploring Australian institutional distribution.
PresCap24 (Michael Jackett-Simpson). Any information provided on this website is general in nature and has been prepared for persons identified as wholesale investors for the purposes of financial services legislation. It does not constitute financial product advice and does not take into account your particular objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your own circumstances. PresCap24 does not guarantee any particular outcome, rate of return, or the repayment of capital in respect of any fund or investment opportunity referenced or discussed. Past performance is not indicative of future performance. All investments carry risk.