Janelle Bradley

1 day ago | pitchbook.com | Janelle Bradley

BlackRock is gaining access to 401(k) investors through a new offering provided by Great Gray Trust that will leverage private equity funds operated by the world’s largest asset manager. BlackRock’s private equity offerings, along with index equity and index fixed income strategies, will be made available in Great Gray’s first target date fund in an effort to give retirement account holders greater exposure to private market investments.

4 days ago | pitchbook.com | Janelle Bradley

Morgan Stanley’s latest middle-market private equity fund raised $3.2 billion in 12 months in a 60% step up from its predecessor, as private equity funds’ time to close improved in the first three months of the year. “It’s increasingly difficult to be another buyout because the market’s crowded,” said Aaron Sack, head of Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. “Our exits during fundraising exceeded our own expectations,” he added.

1 week ago | pitchbook.com | Janelle Bradley

Buyout firms are hoping for an IPO comeback in the second half of the year, after an initial spark of optimism has been tempered by a slow second quarter. Venture Global, a formerly PE-backed provider of liquefied natural gas, made its debut on the NYSE in January, making its mark as the largest PE exit in Q1 with a valuation of $58.7 billion, according to PitchBook’s latest US PE Breakdown.

2 weeks ago | pitchbook.com | Janelle Bradley

In April, Linden Capital Partners, a healthcare investment firm based in Chicago, secured $5.4 billion in the sixth iteration of its buyout fund, managing to raise an oversubscribed fund despite a PE fundraising lull. Linden represents a paradox in the fundraising market. Like the rest of the PE industry, healthcare specialist funds saw declines in 2024, according to PitchBook’s H2 2024 Healthcare Funds Report. But successful managers in this category actually raised more money than they expected.

2 weeks ago | pitchbook.com | Janelle Bradley

Ares Management has put its two cents into the data center craze, closing a $2.4 billion debut fund focusing on one of private equity’s hottest regions: Japan. According to PitchBook’s Q1 2025 Japan Market Snapshot, PE firms are increasingly turning to Japan, with the number of such funds launched in the first quarter alone already surpassing half of 2024’s total. Over the past year, private equity AUM in the country has grown from $65 billion to $71 billion.