Click on the top right of the report to view full screen
Unlisted, closed-end funds raised just shy of $57 billion during the first half of the year – a slightly lower total than that for H1 2020, but one that is nevertheless broadly in line with the previous two comparative periods.
In fact, when set against the $61.6 billion raised during the first half of last year – which included the $20 billion close of Brookfield Infrastructure IV – H1 2021 acquitted itself well, not needing a mega-fund to round out its tally. Instead, fundraising was powered by a surge in dedicated renewables strategies, which have amassed around $19 billion – more than 33 percent of the $57 billion raised.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the two biggest vehicles closed in H1 – the €7 billion Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners IV and the $4.8 billion BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund III – were renewables-focused. But what is equally interesting is that the top five funds closed during the first half were all specialised vehicles, either focusing on particular sectors (renewables, digital infra) or regions (Asia-Pacific, Europe) – a trend already apparent in our Q1 fundraising figures.
Considering the more than $84 billion sought by the top 10 funds in market – including the latest flagships by the likes of EQT, KKR, I Squared Capital and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, many of which are due to reach a final close imminently – the stage appears set for 2021 to bounce back to 2019 levels.
Check out our interactive fundraising report above for the full breakdown of fundraising activity in H1 2021. You can also download the report as a PDF here and download the data here.