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Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Innovation in Private Markets 2: Mark Johnson – New Leaders in Private Equity at Astra (Capital Allocators, EP.193)

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Investing, Capitalallocation, Business

4.8806 Ratings

🗓️ 6 May 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Mark Johnson is the Managing Partner of Astra Capital Management, a mid-market growth buyout firm specializing in the communications and technology services sectors. Mark co-founded Astra after twenty years of experience investing at JH Whitney, Blackstone, and Carlyle. He partnered with seasoned deal and operating executives and brought the best practices from large shops to Astra with an entrepreneurial lens to address a focused strategy in a new way.
 
Our conversation covers Mark’s unusually planned life path, lessons from industry giants, and the formation of Astra with a utopian ideal in mind.  We discuss the Astra team, thematic sourcing, financial creativity, deal dynamics, value creation within portfolio companies, factors of long-term success, co-investments, and club deals.
 
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Transcript

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0:00.0

Capital Allocators is brought to you by Ten East, an investment platform for sophisticated investors to access private markets.

0:10.5

Ten East brings benefits of having your own family office without the cost and headaches of doing so.

0:16.8

It's founded and led by Michael LaFelle, former deputy executive managing member of Davidson Kempner.

0:24.2

Michael and his investment team offer members the opportunity to co-invest by offering at their

0:29.1

discretion. Michael and his team source, diligence, and commit material personal capital to each

0:35.3

investment. The opportunities shared on the Ten East platform

0:38.9

offer exposure to private credit, real estate, niche venture and private equity, and other

0:44.5

idiosyncratic investments that typically aren't available through traditional channels.

0:49.2

The principles have over a decade track record of investing in these types of exposures

0:53.5

across more than 350

0:55.7

transactions. Post-investment, the Tennis team conducts ongoing monitoring and reporting,

1:01.8

just as you'd expect from an institutional investment organization. I've known Michael for about a

1:07.0

decade, and after becoming impressed by the quality of 10 East offerings, its research

1:11.6

process, and high-quality investment team, I became an advisor to the organization, an investor

1:17.1

in multiple offerings. You can learn more and join me as a member at 10-east.com. That's the number 10,

1:25.4

east.co.

1:36.2

This three-part mini-series, innovation in private markets, looks at the disruptive innovations in the structure of private investing from the perspective of asset owners and managers.

1:42.4

The idea was the brainchild of Daniel Adamson at Capital Constellation, the sponsor of

1:48.4

these conversations.

1:50.3

Daniel is the president of Capital Constellation and was a guest on the show last year.

1:55.8

That conversation describing the unique consortium of large asset owners is a terrific primer for this miniseries and is replayed in the feed.

2:12.7

Hello, I'm Ted Sides, and this is Capital Allocators.

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