Top 10 largest funds in market target $50bn

The 10 largest secondaries funds in market are seeking a combined $50.3 billion, which suggests a bumper year for fundraising next year.

Lexington Capital Partners IX and Ardian Secondary Fund VIII are competing for title of the largest secondaries fund, seeking $12 billion each, according to PEI data. Those funds launched in February and May, respectively. Third spot is occupied by Coller International Partners VIII which launched in April seeking $9 billion.

Partners Group has two real assets secondaries funds in market, ranked sixth and ninth by target size. The firm hit the €2 billion target on Partners Group Real Estate Secondary 2017 as of early September and is yet to hold the final close.

HarbourVest Partners‘ latest dedicated secondaries fund, Dover Street X, is set to seek $6.5 billion, as Secondaries Investor reported in July. It is unclear whether the fund has formally launched.

All funds in the top 10 are global in focus.

According to sister publication Private Equity International‘s Perspectives 2019 Survey, which will be published in December, at least half of limited partners plan to commit to private equity secondaries funds over the next 12 months. With most of the large secondaries firms in market with dedicated funds, these firms will be glad LP appetite for the strategy remains strong.

“It looks like the strategy is firmly anchored in LPs’ investment agendas and is here to stay,” Bernhard Engelien, a managing director at advisor Greenhill, told Secondaries Investor.

At the beginning of this year the 10 largest secondaries funds in market were seeking a mere $13.8 billion combined. Landmark Partners led the list, targeting $4 billion for its sixteenth private equity secondaries fund. That fund closed in October on $7 billion, including capital from co-investment vehicles.

The 26 private equity secondaries funds that held final closes last year raised a combined $38.3 billion, according to PEI data.

In July Secondaries Investor revealed that Lexington Partners had already amassed at least $9 billion for its fund. Ardian had raised around $1 billion from US investors as of October, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

– Adam Le contributed to this report.