Karen Azlen runs Introduction Capital, which brokers private deals and alternative investments for institutions, family offices and UHNW investors. Karen will be celebrating her firm’s 20th anniversary on October 2nd at Stratus Restaurant in the TD South Tower along with over 100 industry colleagues. Karen came back to Canada in the early aughts after working in business development for a London hedge fund and built IntroCap to make high quality matches between investors and opportunities. She is now looking for a successor who can leverage and scale Introduction Capital’s platform and extensive network. It could be an individual or a team. I thought that might be an opportunity worth highlighting.
Karen was a pioneer when the Canadian hedge fund industry was incipient at the turn of the millennium. She launched CanHedge magazine as part of Rogers Publishing and worked with the earliest hedgies like Sprott, Vertex One (John Thiessen) and Front Street Capital (Frank Mersch). IntroCap's initial strength was Karen's international network, but over the years, she has built a powerful Canadian network as well.
IntroCap also provides regulatory facilities for global funds that wish to have Canadian institutional investors. The regulatory term for IntroCap is an Exempt Market Dealer ("EMD"), which is a rapidly growing segment of the investment industry. One reason for this is the growing interest in private markets, given the realization that public investing has been "solved" through indexing. Consulting firm Bain recently released an estimate that private markets AUM might reach $64 trillion by 2032 and account for 30% of all AUM globally. I was also astonished to learn that more than 90% of companies with annual revenues of more than US$100m are privately held. That puts the public markets in perspective.
Karen caught my attention over the summer by doing a podcast with recurring OPM Wire character Mo Lidsky, CEO of Prime Quadrant. Westcourt Capital is a sponsor of IntroCap events. Karen knows everyone. You probably know that the name "Karen" has taken the meaning of being "too demanding". In contrast, my notes say Karen Azlen is generous, big on gratitude and other metaphysical things. She has said that "When I am completely ignored in a meeting that I have set up – that is a good intro", so she's the very antithesis of a "Karen", who asks to speak to the manager.
IntroCap also organizes the annual Canadian Alternative Investment Forum. Early registration for next year's event, scheduled for April 3rd, 2025, is open and will run until December 15th.