Sequoia Capital Partners may be making a move that will shake the fund of funds markets to its core. According to PE Week Wire, the Menlo Calif.-based venture capital firm is in the middle of raising $450 million for an early-stage VC fund, but – get this – it’s reportedly going to ban most funds of funds from investing in it. That could leave out in the cold firms such as HRJ Capital, Flag Capital, HarbourVest Partners, Knightsbridge and Commonfund. Citing “multiple sources,” PE Week say Sequoia is making the decision because it believed that the FoFs “have been trading too much off” its brand in order to raise new funds and use that capital to finance Sequoia’s rivals. PE Week’s Daniel Primack suggests that “the ripples from its decision could include widespread weakening of the entire fund of funds market,” reasoning that if other top VC firms follow its example it could result in a “severe flattening of the VC fund of funds hierarchy.” PE Week says Sequoia’s move has not been prompted by any activity by the above-mentioned firms.
