Advice
Take 10 with Sunaina Sinha
Meet Sunaina Sinha, the Global Head of Private Capital Advisory. In this edition of our Take 10 series, Sunaina provides insight on private capital advisory and the niche expertise of her focus area. Read further as she shares advice to bankers in the industry and to learn about a few things that keep her motivated in her everyday life.
1. Your company, Cebile, was recently acquired by Raymond James. What do you find compelling about the new acquisition?
In the financial services industry, acquisitions are all about people – they are the only asset you buy or sell. For Cebile, the acquisition rationale started with investment banking leadership, who were all exceptional ambassadors of the Raymond James culture. The value fit was obvious to both sides from the start of our discussions. For Cebile we were going to join an investment banking platform that knew how to manage growth, as Raymond James’ investment banking practice has quickly become one of the leaders in the market, especially among mid-market U.S. sponsors. This is our core sweet spot for placements and secondaries.
From Raymond James’ perspective, the firm was able to immediately offer an innovative exit option for portfolio companies to sponsors via GP-led secondaries and a differentiated placements business. Sponsor-led transactions called continuation vehicles are now a mainstay exit option for most general partners. The ability to acquire an established team like Cebile with a longstanding track record in the space was compelling from Raymond James’ perspective.
The last point I would add is that Raymond James acquired one of the most diverse firms in the industry. Our business has always been 100% female-led and employs over 50% minorities. As the call to increase diversity across all levels of corporate America and Europe increases, Raymond James can now proudly show that it is possible to have a business grow and be successful whilst being as diverse as ours.
2. In laymen’s terms, how do you define private capital advisory?
Private capital advisory focuses on delivering capital formation and liquidity strategies to financial sponsors. The core of our business revolves around fund placements and secondary advisory.
On the fund placement side, we work with best-in-class general partners to raise capital from institutional investors, like pension plans, endowments, and foundations. Our secondary capabilities involve acting for general partners and investors wishing to actively manage their private equity holdings by acquiring and selling interests, whether they are fund investments, direct assets, fund portfolios or hybrid portfolios.
3. What differentiates Raymond James Cebile within the private equity placement and advisory space?
Throughout our firm’s eleven-year long history, we have built a reputation of creativity, excellence and, most importantly, playing the long game.
We are extremely proud of not just what we have built, but how we have built it. The client is always at the center of all our decisions. One aspect about us that resonates well within the general partner community is the background of our team. Many of our senior members come from limited partners and/or allocator backgrounds. Having been on the other side of the table, they understand what drives investors’ decision making and are therefore able to provide superior strategic advice to our general partners.
This is complemented by our best-in-class global execution team who have been trained at global investment banks to supercharge the fundraising efforts of our clients. We become an extension of our client’s team to hold their hand every step of the way.
4. This is clearly a booming business in the market. How did you spot the gap so early on and build a successful business?
Right from the start, we knew we had to differentiate ourselves from our competitors by doing things differently. We saw a gap in the market to act as a private funds advisor with a holistic view on capital raising and liquidity solutions by integrating our primary and secondary capabilities under one roof and always being aligned to the best interests of the general partners that we work with.
After completing our first secondary transaction in 2012/13 and our first placement around the same period of time, we simply bided our time and continued to rack up successes and tombstones one-by-one, slowly but surely. This allowed us to grow in the business and become a trusted advisor to general partners all over the world.
5. Tell us about a couple of dynamic trends in the secondaries space that have you excited
As the private equity secondaries market grows to an expected $1 trillion by 2030, we are blessed to find ourselves at the center stage of an industry experiencing rapid innovation and growth without much beta to the public markets.
Single-asset continuation vehicles are seeing a huge boom as they become an alternative exit path to M&A, providing institutional investors with viable liquidity option while giving financial sponsors the opportunity to hold onto assets for longer durations.
6. What has been the most humbling moment in your career?
One moment immediately comes to mind – which was the day we announced the acquisition. I had just called one of our longstanding clients and was ready to deliver the news. However, as I went through my prepared talking points, the managing partner of the firm interrupted me, telling me to stop right there. He explained that after working together for the past six years, he didn’t need the Raymond James acquisition news to tell them how special we were. For as long as they operated in the industry, Cebile would continue to have them as a client. Throughout the acquisition, I did not get emotional at all, but hearing those words definitely made me think that we had done something special to have such long-standing and loyal clients.
7. What is one piece of advice you would give to a woman building her career in investment banking?
My biggest advice to any professional is to play the long game. So many young professionals come to me these days in a do-or-die hurry to get somewhere. They think they need to directly benefit from relationships, see positive outcomes from every networking event and see career progression consistently moving up and to the right. But real careers are rarely linear, and neither is success.
Don't be transactional with people. Instead, build long-term, authentic relationships. Playing the long game has served me well in both my business and my personal life. Any other approach shortchanges you and the possibilities of what could have been.
8. There is a lot of talk of ‘banker burnout.’ How do you keep things together?
Meditation has definitely been my superpower for the last decade.
I practice Vipassana meditation, attending an annual course and practicing daily come what may. It really has become the centering force in my life, allowing me to bring my emotional, mental and physical state into balance each and every day.
The ability to control your thoughts and emotions, as opposed to the contrary, is incredibly liberating. I know that no matter what life throws at me, I can find my way back to center.
9. We hear you are an angel investor. What has been your most thrilling investment to date?
Mindful Chef and Divvy have been two exciting investments to date for sure.
With Mindful Chef, a healthy recipe box business, not only was I the first capital in and chairman of the board, but I also helped mentor the team to help fulfil its growth ambitions. Within three years, Mindful Chef became one of the largest healthy recipe box companies in the UK and was acquired by Nestle after an intense bidding war.
With Divvy, a fintech platform, I was a customer first and absolutely loved how it enabled Cebile to manage its US business. This eventually led me to invest in the business. The lesson here for all inspiring investors is that you have to love the products you invest in. If the product works for you, it will most likely work for others.
10. Lastly, tell us three non-career related fun facts about yourself!
I am a sommelier with the Court of Master Sommelier, so come drink some wine with me!
I love to teach! I have taught master’s level courses in Engineering at Stanford University.
I have grown up all around the world. I left India where I was born, and grew up in Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Vietnam. I have lived and worked in both the US and UK. I call myself a cityoenne du monde, a citizen of the world.
As an added fun fact, I am very passionate about my three kids, as well as my Bernedoodle, called Yogi.