Global investors buy into record Ardian $19 billion secondaries platform for greater liquidity

Ardian, a world leading private investment house, today announced that its eighth-generation secondaries platform has attracted $19 billion of commitments from investors globally. The programme, which includes $5 billion of co-investment interests, significantly exceeds the $14 billion raised for Ardian’s seventh generation platform in 2016.

The fundraise highlights how the secondaries market has matured to become an important source of liquidity for investors, including insurance companies, pension funds and family offices, as they look to re-balance private equity portfolios and seek yield opportunities for savers amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Ardian has been a pioneer in the development of the global market for the past 20 years. The current fundraise confirms its leadership position.

The Ardian platform attracted 275 investors from nearly 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, illustrating the resilience and continued attractiveness of the asset class. Investors comprise major pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, HNWIs and financial institutions.

There was particularly strong growth among Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern investors, reflecting Ardian’s increasingly diversified and international client base, and strong relationships across the globe. Ardian’s Fund of Funds platform, which covers both primary and secondary fund of funds, now has $53 billion in assets under management, with an exposure to more than 10,000 portfolio companies through 1,600 underlying funds.

Vincent Gombault, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian Fund of Funds, said: “In the current environment, the secondaries market has a crucial role to play in providing institutional investors with liquidity. It is a vital tool for pension funds and investors in how they allocate investments in private equity.

“While this is another significant milestone in the growth of our Fund of Funds platform, more important is how it highlights the continued development of the secondaries market. It is now a mature market which will only grow in importance for private equity investors in the years to come.”

Benoît Verbrugghe, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian US, added: “Our latest fundraise is testament to the strength and depth of our global platform, our excellent asset management capabilities, long-term relationships and the consistent returns that we have offered our investors. Over more than two decades, we have built a vast database of funds and underlying portfolio companies, which gives us a unique insight into the private equity sector. Ardian is well placed to take advantage of the secondary market’s increasingly important role in global finance.”

Olivier Decannière, Member of the Executive Committee and Head of Ardian UK, commented: “This clearly demonstrates the confidence in Ardian and the secondaries platform that we have grown and developed over the years. Our ability to offer our investors diversified private equity exposure underpinned by strong returns is more relevant and compelling now than it ever has been.”