Looking back: Top five fund closes of 2017

This year is shaping up to be record-breaking year for secondaries fundraising.

In the first half of the year at least $23.6 billion was raised by private equity funds dedicated to the strategy, according to PEI data, slightly above the previous high of $22.4 billion for the same period a year earlier.

Here are the top five fund closes of 2017.

• Strategic Partners closed its latest secondaries fund on $7.5 billion, above its target of $5.75 billion and more than $3 billion above the total collected for its 2011-vintage predecessor. Strategic Partners Fund VII has been involved in some big ticket deals, emerging as the buyer of two tranches of fund stakes from Ardian with a combined value of around $1.5 billion.

• Coming in not far behind is AlpInvest Partners, which raised $6.5 billion for its AlpInvest Secondaries Program VI (ASP VI), exceeding its target by $500 million. Around half of the total is is in a commingled vehicle with the remainder going into separately managed accounts. Investors include Swedish pension fund AP Fonden VI, according to PEI data.

• Having closed a flagship fund in 2016, Lexington Partners kept the wheels in motion by raising $2.7 billion for Lexington Middle Market Investors IV. The fund had been in the market since September 2016 and was targeting $2 billion, according to PEI data. The fund focuses on established US mid-market buyout funds that are less than 50 percent invested.

• Neuberger Berman‘s NB Secondary Opportunities Fund IV, which closed $500 million above target on $2.5 billion in January. SOF IV writes tickets averaging $20 million to $25 million. It is region-agnostic and seeks to acquire stakes in private equity funds, direct investments, co-investments and structured private equity.

• Rounding out the top five is Hamilton Lane Secondary Fund IV, which held its final close in June on $1.9 billion, exceeding its $1.25 billion target. The fund, which launched in July 2015, counts on support from Fresno County Employees’ Retirement System and Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, among others. Hamilton Lane aims to invest in proprietary-sourced single funds, subset portfolios and complex structured as well as direct investments.