Building relationships on the ground: Ardian's San Francisco office, 10 years on

02 October 2025
Private Equity
Secondaries & Primaries
San Francisco, USA

Reading time: 5 minutes

Wilfred Small

Senior Managing Director and Member of the ASF Management Committee

Wilfred Small is a Senior Managing Director and member of the Ardian Secondary Fund (“ASF”) Management Committee. He is primarily engaged in the origination and evaluation of investments in North America, where he plays a leading role in developing Ardian’s Secondaries & Primaries business. He also oversees the San Francisco office, where he is responsible for leading the team dedicated to following the firm’s western North American LP and GP relationships. Mr. Small joined Ardian in 2011 in New York and established the San Francisco office alongside Mr. Mark Benedetti and Mr. Vladimir Colas in 2015. In 2021, he relocated from San Francisco to London to work with clients internationally and on new product development. As of September 2023, he is based in New York.

With one of the largest teams in California dedicated to secondaries and primary fund investments, Ardian’s San Francisco office has played a key role in over $18 billion of transactions involving West Coast private equity & infrastructure fund sellers since opening in 2015. Here’s how local presence translates into differentiated access and lasting relationships.

2015

San Francisco office opening
13

employees in San Francisco
30

secondary transactions done since 2015

If California were a country, its $4.2 trillion economy would make it the fourth largest in the world. With a growing share of Ardian’s portfolio and client base tied to the West Coast, opening a San Francisco office in 2015 was a strategic move to deepen local engagement.

“Given the scale and sophistication of our growing investor base and GP relationships on the West Coast, having a local presence was a natural next step,” say Mark Benedetti, Executive President, and Vladimir Colas, Executive Vice-President, Co-Head of Ardian US and Co-Head of Secondaries & Primaries. Wilfred Small, Member of the ASF Management Committee & Senior Managing Director, adds: “We saw an opportunity to be closer to some of our most important clients and partners, and to be better positioned to support the region’s GPs and LPs in a more direct, hands-on way.”

That bet has paid off. Since the office opened, the team has led or supported more than 30 secondary transactions involving West Coast sellers, totaling over $18 billion in transaction value.

“With a team of thirteen, we’re one of the largest private equity & infrastructure secondaries and primaries investment teams on the US West Coast market,” says Quentin Hugot, Managing Director.

With a team of thirteen, we’re one of the largest private equity & infrastructure secondaries and primaries investment teams on the US West Coast market.

Quentin Hugot, Managing Director, Secondaries & Primaries

Deepening Relationships with West Coast Institutions

A significant share of U.S. public pension capital is managed by institutions on the West Coast. California’s public pension system alone oversees more than $1 trillion, driven by the sheer scale of the state’s economy and population. These institutions were among the earliest adopters of private equity and continue to play a defining role in shaping GP-LP dynamics.

“These were among the pioneer investors in the asset class,” says Wilfred Small.

Institutions helped put many of the industry’s first movers in business by providing early capital and long-term support. A lot of innovation comes out of the West Coast – California in particular – and it’s no different in private equity.

Wilfred Small, Senior Managing Director in the Secondaries & Primaries team and Member of the ASF Management Committee

The team’s experience working with these institutions is well-established. At the end of last year, Ardian completed a $1.2 billion secondary acquisition from a California-based public pension. The team’s longstanding relationship with the seller helped secure the transaction, which involved a high-quality portfolio of 13 buyout fund interests across North America and Europe.

“These clients each have their own oversight structures, board objectives, and constraints. Being local helps us anticipate their needs, provide strategic guidance, and support their evolving private markets portfolio needs,” says Douglas Miller, Managing Director in the Investor Relations team. ESG considerations, for instance, remain central to many public mandates in the region, even as they face resistance in other parts of the country.

Backing the Region’s Leading GPs

Proximity to innovation hubs like Silicon Valley has shaped the investment culture of many West Coast managers. There’s a strong emphasis on growth and a focus on sectors such as software, healthcare, and tech-enabled services.

“That mindset naturally lends itself to strategic partnership and continuation fund deals, where our platform can be particularly helpful,” says Hugot.

One standout example: Ardian’s lead role in structuring and anchoring Accel-KKR’s first dedicated institutional vehicle focused in part on continuation vehicle investments. The Menlo Park-based firm had previously pursued similar transactions involving both its own and third-party assets from its balance sheet. With Ardian’s support, it scaled that effort into a $2.2 billion fund targeting high-performing, lower middle-market software companies. "This is exactly the kind of relationship we’re able to build by being here,” Hugot explains. “It’s not just about capital - it’s about proximity, trust, and shared ambition.”

The Road Ahead

From private equity deal sourcing to strategic relationship building and investor management, the San Francisco office has proven the value of local market presence – and we’re just getting started.

Wilfred Small, Senior Managing Director in the Secondaries & Primaries team and Member of the ASF Management Committee

The Road Ahead

The team believes there’s more opportunity to come – not only in secondaries and primaries, but in adjacent strategies as well.

“I’m very optimistic about San Francisco as a long-term strategic hub for the firm,” says Small. “From deal sourcing to relationship building, the office has proven what’s possible – and we’re just getting started.”