Fund IX: Continuing Our Path of PeopleFirst Investing

On June 30, 2023, we closed our ninth fund, Alpine Investors IX (“Fund IX”), reaching our hard cap with $4.5B in capital commitments in an oversubscribed fundraising process. With this raise, we’ve roughly doubled our fund size compared to the $2.25B raised with our eighth fund in 2021. This brings our total assets under management to $15B.*

We are thrilled with this outcome, particularly in light of the very challenging fundraising environment in which our team achieved it. Most limited partners had less capital to allocate due to the impacts of falling markets, inflation, and surging interest rates. Compounding these dynamics were the numerous funds simultaneously in the market, all vying for these coveted (reduced) allocations. Many investors didn’t take meetings with funds outside of their current portfolios. It was a crowded market, to say the least.

When we started Alpine 22 years ago, we knew that building great companies required hiring and training world-class leaders. But it wasn’t until year seven in business that it really “clicked” and became the sun around which our world orbits. We realized then that our core business is not actually investing; we are in the talent business.

Early in my career, I gained investment experience working at other private equity firms, but I always felt like I was using a small fraction of my fullest potential. The cultures of these firms were not conducive to growth or having any balance in my life outside of work. I vowed to myself that we would do things differently at Alpine.

We intentionally create cultures – at Alpine and within our portfolio companies – where we can not only attract the best people but also give them opportunities to become the best version of themselves. For the past two decades, we have focused on attracting, training, and backing outstanding people. We doubled down on our bright spots, and today, we have world-class programs for summer investing interns, CEOs-in-Training, and CEOs-in-Residence. Last year, we launched similar programs for Chief People Officers, Chief Financial Officers, and Investors in Residence. We have supported these people with significant investments, including access to our PeopleFirst Leadership Program and our extensive suite of top-notch executive coaches.