Chart of the Week: Average Fund Size

The average fund size has grown throughout the years

 COW 1-14 411x 

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Data from PERE Research & Analytics has revealed that a total of $693.74 billion had been raised through 1719 funds between 2008 and 2014. While fundraising for 2014 dipped from the previous year by two percent, the average fund size jumped significantly from 2013, indicating that investors are writing larger checks to less funds. 

In 2013, when total capital raised stood at $117.8 billion across 285 funds, the average fund raised $413.5 million. 2014 grew with an average fund size of $522.7 million. This indicates a growth of 26 percent from 2013, 55 percent from 2012 and 65 percent from 2011, where the average fund size was at its lowest for the time period.  

The average fund size for every strategy in 2014 rose from the previous year. Value added funds faced the largest growth with an average fund size of $426.1 million, a growth of 60 percent from 2013. The largest fund to close for the strategy was the Och-Ziff Real Estate Fund III which closed on $1.5 billion in October. Debt funds had the highest average fund size at $1.1 billion, a growth of 29 percent from 2013. The Lone Star Fund IX was the largest fund to close for the strategy, raising $7.4 billion.