Davis Polk partner Sijia Cai was featured on Secondaries Investor’s “Second Thoughts” podcast as an honoree of Secondaries Investor’s “NextGen Leaders of Secondaries: Class of 2024.” Sijia, along with fellow guests Sabrina Harliman and Josef Menasche, speak with host Hannah Zhang about their careers, the talent pool and the current market.

When asked how she got into secondaries, Sijia said, “I was fortunate enough to start out in the legal industry right as [GP-led secondaries transactions] were picking up and more and more sponsors were looking to that as a potential option. … It started out as doing a favor for some of our clients who were coming in and asking us for liquidity solutions, and then it gradually evolved over the past 10 years into what we now see as a fully established, rising industry in and of itself, which has been really amazing to witness.”

Sijia also noted that, while secondaries is a large industry, many people projected that it would grow at a more progressive pace than what they have seen, which can be attributed, in part, to a lack of talent in the space. “[There is a lack of] people who are doing secondaries, who know secondaries, who have experience in secondaries. Because it is relatively new, that talent pool is not as large as what it would be for a private equity associate,” she said. “So there has definitely been a talent war in secondaries. Even in the legal profession – where I practice – really smart, talented secondaries lawyers are in very high demand.”

Discussing Davis Polk’s secondaries practice, she said, “We have a very broad secondaries practice. We have clients that do almost exclusively LP portfolio secondaries, and focus on the buy-side and the sell-side. Then we have a lot of fund sponsor clients … who will do GP-led secondaries transactions and continuation vehicle transactions on the sponsor side. And then we have a very deep roster of buy-side clients, some who are single-asset specialists, some are more flexible and have their own secondaries funds. It’s a very diverse, broad practice.”

Offering advice to young professionals considering a career in secondaries, Sijia said, “Enter that market. It’s actually very welcoming and inviting. Right now it’s still very much a tight-knit community and the culture is great. It’s very welcoming in particular to women, minorities, diverse individuals. I find it to be a very good place for a young lawyer or a young business professional to grow and pick up a lot of very good experience.”

“How Next Gen Leaders see the future of the secondaries market,” Secondaries Investor’s “Second Thoughts” podcast (November 14, 2024) (subscription)

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