He wants to bring private equity and debt markets to institutional investors with Portal, set to launch this summer. Portal is a new trading platform from Nasdaq, which will be the first electronic trading place for buying and selling private securities. Interest has been peaking in the private equity market, also known as 144As, as capital raised last year was more than in the IPO (initial public offering) market, reports John Birger of Fortune Magazine.
Jacobs believes this product represents more transparency, liquidity, and better pricing, in a dark market for institutional buyers. Portal will open a "back door" for individual investors to own 144A securities via mutual funds and ETFs. ETF providers can request to have an ETF based on the Portal index.
