Coller Capital acquires portfolios of private equity interests – both LP fund positions and direct investments in companies/corporations – from their original investors (typically, financial institutions, corporations, government bodies, family offices or charitable foundations.)

The firm's individual investments range from $1 million to $1 billion or more in size.

Coller Capital has been responsible for many of the milestone transactions of the secondaries market, including acquisition of the Shell US Pension Trust portfolio in 1998 and the NatWest Equity Partners portfolio (from Royal Bank of Scotland) in 2000 – at the time, these were both the largest secondaries investments that had ever been made.

Another milestone was the firm’s 2001 purchase of the Bell Labs corporate venture portfolio from Lucent – the investment usually credited with kickstarting the secondary directs market.

Coller Capital’s $900m Abbey National transaction in 2004 was, at the time, the largest ever secondaries investment by a single firm.

In 2006, Coller Capital made the first ever secondaries investment in India – acquiring LP interests in a fund managed by ICICI Venture.

The firm's $1 billion joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell, completed in 2007, represents the largest ever secondaries investment in corporate venture assets.

In 2008, Coller Capital invested in First China Development Fund – a milestone secondary directs deal in China.

In 2009, the firm agreed to acquire a significant part of 3i’s European venture portfolio, and also participated in a share offering by SVG Capital.

In 2010, Coller Capital formed a joint venture with Lloyds Banking Group to acquire the Bank of Scotland Integrated Finance portfolio.

In 2011, Coller Capital acquired 100% of Crédit Agricole Private Equity (CAPE) and the large majority of the funds CAPE manages.