Neuberger Berman Continues To Expand Access To Private Equity For Individual Investors

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Neuberger Berman today announced the launch of NB Crossroads Private Markets Access Fund LLC ("Fund"), a registered, continually offered closed-end fund that further democratizes the firm's private equity offerings and increases access to these important portfolio solutions for individual investors. The Fund launched with $208 million in initial capital, including $34 million from Neuberger Berman employees.

The Fund's name signifies the unprecedented access from this vehicle, including:

• Access to Neuberger Berman's best-in-class co-investments alongside private equity partners
• Access to established secondary private equity solutions
• The Fund provides this access with a structure that offers:
• Lower investment minimums ($50K) and eligibility requirements than most private equity funds
• A single capital call (traditional private equity can require multiple calls over a multi-year period)
• Monthly subscriptions to the Fund with limited quarterly liquidity via tender offers¹
• Simple tax reporting on Form 1099
• A transparent fee structure and reporting

This Fund is timely, as private markets are more important than ever to investors:

• The universe of public U.S. companies has been shrinking for years as more new companies are remaining private longer making it difficult for most investors to participate in their growth potential.
• Private equity diversifies return potential and risk characteristics compared to a traditional portfolio of public securities.

Why Neuberger Berman Private Markets Access Fund:

• The Fund provides access to institutional-quality private equity investments, emphasizing direct equity investments in private companies as well as secondary investments in private equity funds.
• Neuberger Berman has managed private market assets for more than 30 years. The team is 220+ private market professionals in nine global locations. Neuberger Berman Private Equity's integrated model of primary and secondary fund investments and direct private equity businesses enhances deal flow, diligence and GP relationships
• Neuberger Berman has more than 70 years' experience with registered funds and manages more than $75B in registered fund assets².
• The Fund has an innovative structure that solves for the investor challenges associated with traditional PE investments.

Tony Tutrone, Head of Neuberger Berman Alternatives says of the Fund, "We have spoken for a long time about the need to make private equity available to more investors. While this asset class is already a large part of most public and private pensions, and therefore impacts the retirement portfolios of millions of employees and pensioners, this new Fund can be a direct way to gain exposure to an important driver of returns and risk differentiation. This Fund is designed to help a massive group of qualified 'Main Street' investors gain access to private markets more directly. Our experienced teams will work to select investments that we believe are best suited for this investor base and for this structure."

The Fund will be available through financial advisors, who play a key role in educating investors and properly allocating private markets assets within a balanced portfolio. The Fund is a closed-end fund registered under both the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Securities Act of 1933.

Scott Kilgallen, Head of North American Intermediary Client Coverage, said, "Wealth advisors play a key role in helping their clients prepare for the financial realities of important life events. Accessing private markets can help advisors and their investors create a complete and optimal portfolio to address these realities. This Fund, designed for broad access and with lower investment minimums, allows individual investors to access an asset class previously reserved for pensions and other large institutional investors."

About Neuberger Berman

Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 24 countries, Neuberger Berman's diverse team has over 2,300 professionals. For six consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). In 2020, the PRI named Neuberger Berman a Leader, a designation awarded to fewer than 1% of investment firms for excellence in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The PRI also awarded Neuberger Berman an A+ in every eligible category for our approach to ESG integration across asset classes. The firm manages $405 billion in client assets as of December 31, 2020. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

Media Contact: Alex Samuelson, 212 476 5392, [email protected]

An investor should consider the Fund's investment objectives, risks and fees and expenses carefully before investing. This and other important information can be found in the Fund's prospectus, which an investor can obtain by calling 617-619-4690 or by emailing [email protected]. Please read the prospectus carefully before making an investment.

An investment in the Fund involves a high degree of risk and therefore should only be undertaken by qualified investors whose financial resources are sufficient to enable them to assume these risks and to bear the loss of all or part of their investment. The Fund is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as a non-diversified, closed-end management investment company. The Fund and Neuberger Berman do not guarantee any level of return or risk on investments and there can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objective will be achieved.

The Fund is a newly organized fund with no operating history. The Fund's investment program is speculative and entails substantial risks. Investors should consult with their own financial, legal, investment and tax advisors prior to investing in the Fund. There is no assurance that the investments held by the Fund will be profitable, that there will be proceeds from such investments available for distribution to investors, or that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. There can be no assurance that projected or targeted returns for the Fund will be achieved.

An investment in the Fund should be considered illiquid. An investment in the Fund is not suitable for investors who need access to the money they invest. Although the Fund may offer to repurchase a limited amount of the Fund's shares from time to time via quarterly repurchase offers, the Fund's shares will not be redeemable at an investor's option nor will they be exchangeable for shares of any other fund. As a result, an investor may not be able to sell or otherwise liquidate his or her shares. There can be no assurance that the Fund will conduct repurchase offers in any particular period and investors may be unable to tender their shares for repurchase for an indefinite period of time.

There will be a substantial period of time between the date as of which investors must submit a request to have their shares repurchased and the date they can expect to receive payment for their shares from the Fund. The Board of the Fund may under certain circumstances elect to postpone, suspend or terminate an offer to repurchase shares.

The Fund's shares are not listed, and are not expected to be listed, for trading on any securities exchange, and the Fund does not expect any secondary market to develop for its shares in the foreseeable future. The Fund's shares are subject to substantial restrictions on transferability and resale and may not be transferred or resold except as permitted under the Fund's limited liability company agreement.

A substantial portion of the Fund's assets are expected to consist of direct investments in private companies as well as investments in private equity portfolio funds that primarily invest in securities of private companies. Investments in private companies involve a high degree of business and financial risk that can result in substantial losses. Operating results for private companies in a specified period will be difficult to predict.

The Fund's private equity investments will be illiquid and typically cannot be transferred or redeemed for a substantial period of time. The Fund's private equity investments in most cases will be highly illiquid and difficult to value. Unless and until those investments are sold or mature into marketable securities, they will remain illiquid.

The Fund intends to elect for treatment, and to qualify each year to be treated, as a regulated investment company or a "RIC." As such, the Fund must satisfy, among other requirements, certain ongoing asset diversification, source-of-income and annual distribution requirements. If the Fund fails to qualify as a RIC it will become subject to corporate-level income tax, and the resulting corporate taxes could substantially reduce the Fund's net assets, the amount of income available for distributions to investors, the amount of distributions and the amount of funds available for new investments.

All information is as of December 31, 2020 unless otherwise indicated and is subject to change without notice. Firm data, including employee and assets under management figures, reflects collective data for the various affiliated investment advisers that are subsidiaries of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. Firm history/timeline includes the history of all firm subsidiaries, including predecessor entities and acquisitions.  

Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC ("NBIA") serves as the Fund's investment adviser and has engaged NB Alternatives Advisers LLC as sub-adviser to assist with investment decisions. Neuberger Berman BD LLC, member FINRA, an affiliate of NBIA, acts as distributor for the Fund's shares.

The "Neuberger Berman" name and logo are registered service marks of Neuberger Berman Group LLC. © 2021 Neuberger Berman Group LLC. All rights reserved.

¹ The Fund intends to provide regular repurchase offers of no more than 5% of the Fund's net assets generally quarterly. The Board may elect to repurchase less than the full amount that a Shareholder requests to be repurchased and may under certain circumstances elect to postpone, suspend or terminate an offer to repurchase share.

² Includes U.S. open- and closed-end funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and UCITS Funds.

SOURCE Neuberger Berman

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