HarbourVest seeks to almost double fund size with Real Assets IV

HarbourVest Partners is seeking almost twice the amount it raised for its previous real assets secondaries fund with its latest vehicle, US pension fund documents show.

The Boston-headquartered firm is seeking $700 million for Real Assets Fund IV, which targets vanilla and complex secondaries transactions in the energy, power, infrastructure and natural resources sectors, according to documents prepared for Plymouth County Retirement Association. It can also do direct investments.

The firm has upped its preferred return from 7 percent to 8 percent and carried interest from 10 percent to 12.5 percent, a comparison with marketing materials for the 2016-vintage Real Assets Fund III shows.

Fund III raised $366 million against a target of $300 million, Secondaries Investor reported on final close in April 2017. The vehicle’s target was revised down from $500 million. Clwyd Pension Fund and Norfolk County Council Pension Fund were among the investors.

Fund III had achieved a 70.4 percent net internal rate of return and 1.5x multiple as of 30 June, the document noted. The 2015-vintage Fund II has returned a net IRR of 23.1 percent and a multiple of 1.4x as of the same date.

Energy and infrastructure funds accounted for 6 percent of all stakes that changed hands on the secondaries market last year, according to advisor Greenhill. Infrastructure accounted for 19 percent of GP-led transaction volumes by strategy, second only to buyout, which accounted for 56 percent.

HarbourVest declined to comment.