Global private market specialist Partners Group posts $10.8b net AUM growth in 2019

Global private market investment manager Partners Group clocked $10.8 billion net growth in its assets under management (AUM) in 2019. The total AUM amounted to $94 billion, the firm said in a statement.

The increase in AUM can be attributed to the new commitments worth $16.5 billion received by the firm last year. About half, or $45 billion, of the total corpus comprised private equity. Another quarter, or $22 billion, was private debt; while 16 per cent of the funds amounting to $15 billion were private real estate. The remaining $12 billion was in private infrastructure.

In the year gone by, Partners Group invested half of the funds in North America. It invested another 30 per cent in Europe, while only 17 per cent was deployed into the Asia Pacific region, as well as the rest of the world – primarily as direct investments.

Partners Group has been “underweight” on the region for a while, said its co-CEO David Layton during a conference call.

The asset manager’s direct investments in the Asia Pacific region include its commitment to provide a unitranche debt financing to Taiwan’s bubble and milk tea producer Gong Cha Group; the acquisition of majority stake in Chinese retail display solution provider BCR Group; as well as the acquisition of Indian franchisor of Vishal Mega Mart brand and wholesale supplier-Vishal Mega Mart Private Limited (VMM) along with the India-focused PE fund Kedaara Capital Fund II.

Partners Group’s new commitments in 2019 were supported by a range of next generation flagship programmes, including direct private equity, diversified global infrastructure, real estate opportunities, multi-asset credit and senior loans. Besides, there was also a strong demand for tailored private market programmes, which include customized mandates and an extensive range of innovative structured fund solutions.

“These range from mandates for large institutions, which allow us to steer investment exposure across multiple private markets asset classes in line with clients’ longer-term investment horizons, to structured fund solutions for private individuals who are increasingly recognizing the benefits of private markets,” said Andre Frei, partner and co-CEO of Partners Group.

Going forward, in 2020, Partners Group expects a benign market environment and gross client demand of around $15 billion to $19 billion.

Source: Deal Street Asia

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