By Yantoultra Ngui
SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Aquilius Investment Partners has raised $1.1 billion for its second Asia Pacific real estate secondaries fund, marking the region’s largest of its kind, the Singapore-based firm said on Monday.
Secondaries, deals where investors buy existing stakes in private funds, are among the fastest-growing alternative strategies globally, according to Preqin.
The data provider forecasts global alternatives assets to reach $29.2 trillion by 2029, with secondaries projected to grow the fastest at an annual 13.1% rate through 2029, driven by slow exits and rising private wealth demand.
The fundraising includes over $750 million for AIP Secondary Fund II, exceeding its original $700 million target, and associated vehicles, Aquilius said in a statement. That compares with more than $400 million raised for its maiden fund in 2023.
About half the capital has already been deployed across eight transactions, Aquilius said.
Founded in 2021 by former Partners Group and Blackstone executives, Aquilius now operates what it says is Asia’s largest real estate secondaries platform, with 30 professionals on the ground, according to its statement.
“One third of global private market AUM sits in Asia, yet less than 10% of secondaries capital is dedicated here,” Christian Keiber, founding partner at Aquilius, told Reuters. AUM refers to assets under management.
“Combine that with an environment of slow exits, heightened uncertainty, and regulatory drivers, and you have a generational buying opportunity.”
Bastian Wolff, also a founding partner, said Aquilius’ clients are primarily sovereign wealth funds and pension funds in Asia and the Middle East.
“Their proximity and understanding of the market opportunity were key drivers of confidence in our investment strategy and platform,” Wolff said.
Wolff said that remaining capital will target diversified exposure across Japan, Korea, India and Australia, focusing on new economy sectors such as logistics, data centres and living.
(Reporting by Yantoultra NguiEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
