Chart of the Week: Fundraising – H1 vs. H2

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Data from PERE Research & Analytics revealed that, between 2010 and 2014, a total of $470.3 billion was raised between 1234 funds. A majority of this capital was raised in the second half of each year, accounting for 54 percent of the total. Fundraising in the second half of the year consistently overshadowed the first half, with the average growth from the second half to the first half being 42 percent. 2012 saw the largest difference between the two halves, when H2 showed a growth over H1 by 91 percent. Opportunistic funds made up the majority of fundraising in H2 2012, accounting for 43 percent with the largest fund to close being the Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII which raised $13.3 billion.

2014 saw the smallest difference between the first and second half of the year, with H2 2014 showing a growth of five percent over H1 2014. While Europe led fundraising in 2014, it was the only region where H2 didn’t surpass H1 fundraising levels. Europe held a strong presence in the first half of the year, raising a total of $23.8 billion, but lagged in the second half by 26 percent. One factor for this discrepancy is the lack of mega funds closed in the second half compared to the first half. In H1 2014, six funds closed above $1 billion while in H2 2014, three funds did so. The largest fund to close for the region was the Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe IV which raised $8.7 billion between two tranches.