Asia Alternatives Management LLC, an independent Asian private equity fund-of-funds which has backed a few India-dedicated PE funds, has hit the final close for its fifth fund and several other parallel vehicles at $1.8 billion.
The largest of these funds is Asia Alternatives Capital Partners V, LP, which received $1.515 billion of committed capital along with its parallel fund Asia Alternatives Capital Partners V (ERISA), LP.
The two funds exceeded their combined target of $1.3 billion, the investment firm said in a statement. A few smaller funds mobilised the remaining amount.
The fifth fund raised a similar amount as its predecessor, Asia Alternatives Capital Partners IV LP, in 2015. The firm’s previous three funds closed in May 2007, September 2008 and July 2012.
Asia Alternatives helps institutional investors make investments in top-performing PE fund managers across Asia, primarily in China, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, India and Australia.
The firm was founded in 2005 by Melissa Ma, Laure Wang and Rebecca Xu and currently has over $11 billion of assets under management. It builds portfolios that are diversified across buyout, growth and expansion, venture capital and special situations funds, as well as direct co-investments and secondaries. It has at least 45 professionals at offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and San Francisco.
The firm said that about 85% of committed capital for the fifth fund came from pre-existing relationships.
Its institutional investors across the funds include The Boeing Company, Cathay Life Insurance Co. and a number of state and corporate pension funds, foundations, university endowments, insurance companies and family offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Japan and Asia.
Asia Alternatives’ funds are focussed on building a diversified Asia private equity portfolio with an emphasis on top-performing local fund managers.
Melissa Ma, co-founder and managing director of Asia Alternatives, said that a vast majority of its limited partners have continued to invest with the firm over the past decade. She said that, in the 12 years of its operations, the firm has formed strong partnerships with its investors across the world and with its fund managers across China, India, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia.
Rebecca Xu, co-founder and managing director of Asia Alternatives, said that Asian PE opportunities represent an increasingly attractive way for investors to achieve return and portfolio diversification.
“Our local knowledge and on-the-ground presence in Asia allows us to capitalize on the continuously evolving Asia private equity ecosystem in order to maximize risk-adjusted returns for our investors,†she said.
Ark Totan Alternative Co. Ltd., Eaton Partners, LLC and Roam Capital Inc. acted as placement agents for Asia Alternatives and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP served as legal counsel.
