Key Takeaways
- • Golub Capital appoints Matt Shafer as Managing Director and Head of GP-Led Secondaries Strategy, tasking him with developing and expanding the firm's Golub Equity Continuation Partners (GECP) platform launched in October 2025.
- • Shafer brings nearly 30 years of private equity, financing, and advisory experience, most recently serving as Head of Capital Solutions and US Private Equity at Northleaf Capital Partners, where he oversaw secondaries, co-investments, and structured capital investments.
- • GECP targets continuation vehicles and liquidity solutions for PE sponsors, enabling general partners to retain ownership of portfolio companies while providing liquidity to existing limited partners—a distinct and growing segment within the broader secondaries market.
- • Shafer will collaborate with Greg Cashman, Vice Chair and Co-Head of Sponsor Finance, signaling Golub Capital's integrated approach to building scale in GP-led secondaries through combined underwriting expertise and private equity investment capabilities.
- • The appointment reflects market maturation in secondaries, with continuation investments increasingly recognized as an established liquidity channel for PE sponsors seeking alternative exit strategies.
Summary
Golub Capital has appointed Matt Shafer as Managing Director and Head of its GP-led private equity secondaries strategy, Golub Equity Continuation Partners (GECP), marking a strategic expansion in the firm's secondaries capabilities. Shafer will lead development of GECP and broaden Golub Capital's equity investment capabilities in the continuation vehicles market, collaborating closely with Greg Cashman, Vice Chair and Co-Head of the firm's Sponsor Finance practice.
Shafer joins from Northleaf Capital Partners, where he most recently held the role of Head of Capital Solutions and US Private Equity, overseeing a broad mandate spanning secondaries, co-investments, and structured capital transactions. He brings nearly 30 years of experience across private equity investing, financing, and advisory roles. Prior to Northleaf, Shafer was a partner and head of Americas Private Equity at Vision Capital, and spent 12 years in sponsor-focused investment banking at CIBC World Markets and Lehman Brothers.
Golub Capital launched GECP in October 2025 with an explicit focus on continuation vehicles and complementary transactions that enable private equity sponsors to retain ownership stakes in high-quality portfolio companies while simultaneously providing liquidity solutions to existing limited partners. The firm has already assembled a dedicated team combining underwriting expertise with deep private equity and secondaries investment experience. Shafer's appointment underscores the firm's commitment to capturing growth in this segment as continuation investments have evolved into a distinct subsector within the broader secondaries market, increasingly recognized as an established and sophisticated liquidity channel for PE sponsors.
Shafer joins from Northleaf Capital Partners, where he most recently held the role of Head of Capital Solutions and US Private Equity, overseeing a broad mandate spanning secondaries, co-investments, and structured capital transactions. He brings nearly 30 years of experience across private equity investing, financing, and advisory roles. Prior to Northleaf, Shafer was a partner and head of Americas Private Equity at Vision Capital, and spent 12 years in sponsor-focused investment banking at CIBC World Markets and Lehman Brothers.
Golub Capital launched GECP in October 2025 with an explicit focus on continuation vehicles and complementary transactions that enable private equity sponsors to retain ownership stakes in high-quality portfolio companies while simultaneously providing liquidity solutions to existing limited partners. The firm has already assembled a dedicated team combining underwriting expertise with deep private equity and secondaries investment experience. Shafer's appointment underscores the firm's commitment to capturing growth in this segment as continuation investments have evolved into a distinct subsector within the broader secondaries market, increasingly recognized as an established and sophisticated liquidity channel for PE sponsors.
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