MORGAN STANLEY AT WORK
SAM ADAMS OF MORGAN STANLEY AT WORK DESCRIBES HER IPO STRATEGY JOURNEY
As the Executive Director of Private to Public Strategy for Morgan Stanley at Work , Sam Adams is passionate about managing IPO and private equity paths for companies
Playing a major role in the IPO and private equity programmes of some of the world ’ s largest companies was not originally in the career plan for Sam Adams . The Los Angeles native initially had ambitions to enter the interior design industry , as her family owned a textile cleaning and restoration business . “ I felt it was part of my DNA ,” she says .
But fate had other plans . After a post-college move to San Francisco , following the 2008 financial crash , Adams ended up working for a small start-up company that inadvertently put her on the path of being an equity owner and guiding companies and employees through large liquidity events .
From there , Adams moved to another start-up company , which involved her in the IPO process , and gave her the opportunity to be mentored . This led to further roles at MuleSoft and DoorDash – always operating in-house equity functions with a penchant for the private to public transition process .
She joined Morgan Stanley at Work because it offers her the opportunity to employ her skills and knowledge without having to move on from companies once the IPO process has been completed .
“ I ’ m a single mom and I ’ ve had to learn all these things on my own , and I take it really personally that , through my work , I can help other people who are probably in the exact same position that I was in 10 years ago .”
She adds : “ It ’ s great to be able to recognise the value potential in a growing company . It ’ s also important to have a high amount of responsibility and gratitude for those things , too .”
“ That really gets me up in the morning because I know that the work we do ends up creating an experience for an end user that we probably never talk to .” don ’ t have access to as much capital . Credit is far more expensive ; inflation means that your money doesn ’ t go nearly as far as it did a couple of years ago .”
“ But people still have real needs to manage their lifestyles , and that can look like buying a home or paying for education for children . Your day-to-day life in this environment now means that it ’ s harder to meet those same financial obligations . And so , if you have equity and you have all this value sitting on the sidelines , people want access to it . They need access to it now probably more than they have in the last 5 to 10 years .”
Private market liquidity and the investment community in a downturn Questions , however , remain . How do private companies fit into all this , particularly at a time when investment activity is low ? And how can they generate enough capital to remain as competitive as their public counterparts ? Adams says it all comes down to arranging the right types of liquidity events and setting up a strong framework .
“ As an employee , you ’ ve been helping generate value over the period that you ’ ve been employed , and you ’ ve seen prices go up . Now , we ’ re starting to see company valuations level out or go back down . But investors still believe in these businesses . Some of the economic factors at play here are not necessarily because these businesses aren ’ t good businesses worth investing in .”
She points out that the tough climate doesn ’ t mean investing opportunities won ’ t happen ; rather , in some ways , the opportunities are greater . “ It ’ s an interesting opportunity for investors who have probably been sitting on the side lines when valuations were higher and saying , ‘ That price point feels too high for me to start to get involved ’, and take positions in companies that they truly believe in at a price that seems a little bit more reasonable and sound , and start to be able to play the long game .”
“ IPOs can be messy and disorganised , because there are just so many bases that need to be covered ”
SAM ADAMS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR , PRIVATE TO PUBLIC STRATEGY , MORGAN STANLEY AT WORK
56 fintechmagazine . com | June 2023