Real estate

Ares Management data, shared with Secondaries Investor, shows deal volume for the asset class fell 21% in 2023 from the record $12.4bn clocked the year prior.

The firm also closed on $1.5bn and $900m for its latest VC and real estate secondaries vehicles, respectively.

More than one in four GPs used the secondaries market to extend hold periods, while a further 18% were enticed by unfunded commitments, according to the investment bank.

The amount of capital raised for the strategy last year eclipsed the previous $101bn record set in 2020, data from Secondaries Investor shows.

The $138.5bn system recently sold huge stakes of its private equity portfolio.

The firm’s predecessor fund has been fully deployed to LP and GP-led real estate secondaries transactions across the Asia-Pacific region.

Bastian Wolff, founding partner at Aquilius Investment Partners, expects more European and North American investors to pivot back to their home markets.

The secondaries market will boom in 2024 as liquidity concerns persist and LPs look to invest in new asset classes, a panel at PEI’s Women in Private Markets Summit has heard.

Two historic fundraises in the space of a week tell us much about where real estate investors see opportunities for returns in a fractured market.

Strategic Partners Real Estate VIII follows vehicles from Ares Management’s Landmark Partners, Partners Group and Goldman Sachs.