While most of the world’s largest private market managers are waiting out the year to raise a new fund, a select few are full steam ahead.
PE fundraising among the largest public asset managers in the US has steadied after an uptick in Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, as managers wrapped up their flagship fundraising efforts.
The top seven public asset managers—including Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, Carlyle Group, Ares, TPG and Blue Owl—raised less capital combined in Q2 2024 than they raised during the same period last year, according to PitchBook’s Q2 2024 US Public PE and GP Deal Roundup report.
Still, total PE fundraising among the top managers is 9.5% ahead of last year. Most managers are riding the highs of their H1 2024 closes and waiting out the year to raise subsequent flagship funds.
TPG, for example, isn’t likely to start raising for the successor to its flagship TPG IX and Healthcare Partners II until H1 2025, after closing both vehicles at a combined $15.6 billion in February, according to the report.
After a challenging 2023 in which Carlyle Group closed its eighth flagship fund 54% below its reported $27 billion target and 20% less than its predecessor, the firm isn’t in the market for its flagship strategy. Instead, it has focused capital-gathering efforts on its Asia-focused products, closing its fifth Japan buyout fund at $2.8 billion in May.
Apollo closed its latest flagship fund at $20 billion in Q3 2023 and doesn’t plan to launch a subsequent product until next year.
But Blackstone is running counter to its peers, remaining in the market for its fourth flagship fund. The fund has attracted over $20 billion in commitments and is seeking additional capital.
Also, KKR launched its latest North America flagship fund with a $20 billion target in June.
Featured image of Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty
