Frequently asked questions

Capital introduction, or cap intro, is the practice of connecting fund managers and private issuers with prospective investors. The introducer creates access and relationships but does not solicit investments, negotiate terms or close allocations.

Cap intro is simply the industry shorthand for capital introduction.

No. Fundraising is the whole process, from positioning through diligence to close. Capital introduction is one component — the part that generates access to investors.

Three things get called capital introduction: prime brokerage cap intro, bundled into a prime brokerage relationship and paid for indirectly through trading revenue; independent firms that charge directly; and placement agents or third-party marketers, engaged to raise capital for a specific offering, usually as registered broker-dealers paid on committed capital.

No. Capital introduction was historically bundled into prime brokerage, which is why smaller managers were effectively excluded. Independent firms operate outside that model.

It works for one specific job: generating access. It does not close allocations. Conversion from first meeting to commitment is low across the industry, which reflects how selective allocators are rather than a defect in the channel. The value is in the volume of relevant meetings and in relationships that mature into commitments later.

The activity sits in a nuanced area of US securities law. Soliciting investments for transaction-based compensation generally implicates broker-dealer registration requirements, while pure introduction without solicitation is treated differently. The distinction turns on actual conduct rather than job title, so take legal advice on any specific arrangement.

Hedge funds, private equity and venture capital firms, real estate sponsors and operators, and established private operating companies raising growth or structured capital. We work with emerging and established managers alike.

Yes — they are a core part of our client base, precisely because they are the segment least served by prime brokerage capital introduction.

There is no fixed threshold. It depends on the strategy and structure rather than on a number. Contact us with specifics for a direct answer.

Regularly. If a raise is not fundable in its current form, or we do not have genuine relationships in the segment you need, we say so at the assessment stage.

Yes. SeRuM is based in New York and works with managers and investors internationally.

Often. In-house teams typically have deep relationships in the segments a firm has already raised from. The common gap is a new geography, investor type or strategy, which is where an outside network adds coverage rather than duplicating it.

Generally no. Early-stage companies are usually better served by venture networks, accelerators and angel groups. Established private companies raising growth or structured capital do sit within capital introduction.

Five steps: discovery, assessment, positioning, targeting, and introduction with follow-through. The second step is a genuine gate — we tell you there if we cannot help.

A pitch deck, a verifiable track record, the fund or offering terms, a populated data room, a defined raise target and timeline, and prepared answers to the hard questions about key person risk, capacity, drawdowns and prior investor behaviour.

Typically within weeks of completing discovery and agreeing a target list. The gating factor is almost always the readiness of your materials rather than our process.

Institutional allocators commonly run six to eighteen months from first meeting to commitment, with first-time funds at the longer end. Family offices and private investors often move considerably faster.

Yes, always. Investors you already know come off the list.

Yes, and candidly. Allocators are polite in meetings and honest afterwards; we tell you which one you heard.

You do. Diligence, negotiation and the investment decision happen directly between you and the investor.

That is often the better time to start. Relationships built before you are in market convert faster once you are.

Fee structures vary by mandate, raise size and scope of work, and we discuss terms directly once we have established we can help. For general market context: prime brokerage cap intro carries no explicit fee but expects trading business in return; independent firms charge directly, often via retainer or per-introduction fees; placement agents typically charge a success fee commonly cited around 1–2% of capital raised.

We discuss engagement terms directly with each manager. Worth knowing generally: in the United States, compensation tied to the amount of capital raised is a central factor in whether someone is treated as acting as an unregistered broker. Any manager evaluating any capital introduction or placement engagement should have counsel review the compensation structure before signing.

No. We do not charge investors for introductions. Compensation arrangements sit on the issuer side and are disclosed to investors on request in relation to any specific introduction.

No. Committing to a volume of introductions would mean making introductions that do not fit, which damages the investor relationships the service depends on.

We take your mandate in detail — asset class, strategy, ticket size, geography, structure, what you rule out — and introduce you only to opportunities that match it. No fee, no obligation, no broadcast list.

It depends on the offering and your jurisdiction. In the United States, private offerings are generally restricted to accredited investors, and some to qualified purchasers. Eligibility is verified by the issuer as part of its own subscription process.

We run our own assessment before deciding whether to work with an issuer and tell investors what we have and have not verified. That is a screening decision, not a diligence report, and it is not a substitute for your own work.

Only when something matches your stated mandate. We do not run a newsletter and do not broadcast opportunities.

Not without your agreement.

No. SeRuM is not a registered broker-dealer. We provide introduction and networking services, and do not offer or sell securities, solicit investments, negotiate terms or provide investment advice.

No. A placement agent is engaged to raise capital for a specific offering, typically as a registered broker-dealer compensated on committed capital.

No. SeRuM is not an investment adviser and makes no recommendations about the suitability of any opportunity.

No. Nothing on this site is an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. Any offering is made only through definitive documents provided by the issuer.

Materials are handled in confidence and we do not share your details with counterparties without your agreement. If you need an NDA in place before sending anything substantive, say so in your first message.