DOWNLOAD: 2021 on track to be worst fundraising year in a decade

The first six months of the year represented the smallest H1 total since 2012, when $57.5bn was raised during the period.

2021 has not been off to a promising start, if H1 fundraising figures are anything to go by.

Approximately $62 billion was raised across 107 funds closed during the first half of the year, down 36.3 percent from the $96.8 billion collected during H1 2020. This capital-raising amount was also the smallest H1 total since 2012, when $57.5 billion was gathered during the first six months of the year.

Additionally, the total number of funds closed during H1 2021 – 107 – is the lowest in the 14 years since PERE has been tracking fundraising data. Because more capital was raised during the first half than second half of the year from 2016-2020, 2021 is therefore poised to be the worst fundraising year for private real estate in a decade.

Opportunistic strategies helped drive much of the capital-raising activity during H1 2021, accounting for 43.3 percent of the equity raised during the period – a 30 percent increase from 33.3 percent in H1 2020. Indeed, four of the top five, and six of the top 10 largest funds to close during the first half of the year were opportunistic vehicles, including Oaktree Capital Management‘s Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VIII, which at $4.7 billion was the biggest fund close during the six-month period.

Check out our interactive report above for a more in-depth analysis of fundraising activity in H1 2021 – including a special spotlight on the office sector.

Download a PDF of the report here and download the data here.