Private equity funds exceeded their fundraising goal in the first quarter of 2013, according to data collected by London-based Private Equity International’s (PEI) research and analytics team.
In the first quarter of 2013, private equity funds raised $71.2 billion, $9.7 billion more than firms’ target of $61.5 billion.
North American focused funds drew the most interest from investors, according to PEI, accounting for roughly $24 billion of all capital raised, a slight increase over the assets raised in this category over the past four quarters. Global funds, contrarily, saw their capital drop from 2012’s quarterly average of roughly $33 billion to about $19.3 billion.
In terms of specific types of private equity funds, PEI’s research found buyout funds were the most popular. Buyout funds raised roughly $29.3 billion in the first quarter of 2013. Venture capital funds were the next big fundraisers this past quarter raising about $18.3 billion, an increase of about $3.5 billion over last year.
On the other hand distressed and secondary funds each saw a significant decrease in their fund raising capabilities in early 2013. Distressed funds raised $1.2 billion in the first quarter compared to $15.7 billion in 2012. Secondary funds saw a similar drop falling from $21.3 billion in the first quarter of 2012 to roughly $2.3 billion in 2013.