Chart of the week: Largest ten private equity funds in market

The average target size of the largest ten private equity funds in market has increased by 29 percent since 31st December 2014

 411

Click here for a larger version


The ten largest closed ended private equity vehicles on the road or coming to market have an average target size of $10.52 billion, up from $8.13 billion at the end of 2014. Throughout 2015, the average target size of the largest ten funds has increased as new large funds have launched to meet the demand of LPs increasingly looking to invest with experienced managers.

Warburg Pincus launched its $12 billion fund earlier in the year, making it the joint second largest fund on the road. It has been reported that KKR North America Fund XII will begin marketing this quarter and will also aim for $12 billion in commitments from investors. The largest private equity vehicle currently in market is Blackstone Capital Partners VII. Initially targeting $16 billion, Blackstone have already gathered $17.5 billion from investors for buyouts globally.

The average target size for all private equity funds in market has increased by eight percent since Q4 2014 when the average target size was $391.76 million. Today, this figure is $423.8 million which shows that the trend of the largest funds getting larger is indicative of the fundraising market generally.