AXA IM Alts has raised a record €18.2 billion of capital in 2021, including €10.2 billion of third party commitments.
The capital was raised from AXA IM Alts’ globalised client base, with 50% of third party capital raised coming from European and 50% from non-European clients for the first time.
Private Debt & Alternative Credit and Real Estate equity pillars accounted for a large proportion of the capital raised, allowing AXA IM Alts to rank as the 4th largest raiser of capital for private debt in the world and Europe’s largest real estate investment manager, according to a statement.
”A key goal in 2022 will be for AXA IM Alts to further expand both its client base and the breadth of strategies it offers across the capital stack globally, with a particular focus on North American and Asia Pacific markets, where AXA IM Alts recently reinforced its client coverage following the strategic appointments of Fiona Choi Kurz and Sandra Lee to the respective regional capital raising teams, and on Private Wealth, with the recruitment of Marion Redel-Delabarre, to lead the strategic expansion of our business in this fast growing segment,” said the company.
AXA IM Alts raised €8.3 billion in Private Debt & Alternative Credit, including €3.8 billion into its real assets debt strategies, with commitments from Japanese, U.S., Dutch and French clients in particular. Reflecting its long-term expertise in this sector, AXA IM Alts also raised a significant amount of capital for its US and European managed CLOs (€1.6 billion). AXA IM Alts has over 20 years of experience in global leveraged loans and now manages c. €12 billion, across its leveraged loan and Private Debt platform globally. The business also saw notable flows into its Dutch mortgages (€0.9 billion), Secured Finance strategy (close to €0.5 billion raised) and through the successful close of its eighth generation Risk Sharing Transactions strategy (with €1.2 billion raised in total since launching in 2018).
Investors committed €6.3 billion to AXA IM Alts’ Real Estate Equity strategies, including €2.1 billion into its core real estate open ended fund range, with the flagship pan European diversified core strategy exceeding the €5 billion AUM milestone for the first time in 2021. AXA IM Alts also closed its fifth-generation development strategy, raising c. €800m to deploy primarily into upgrading old office stock into high quality, sustainable modern workplaces that meet companies increasingly exacting requirements and focus on quality post Covid. AXA IM Alts remains particularly active in real estate development, with c. €8 billion of development projects currently in the pipeline and more than €19 billion of projects executed since 2000.
A further €3.7 billion was raised for Private Equity and Infrastructure strategies, including €1.9 billion since December 2020 for AXA IM Alts’ European Life Sciences platform, and a key conviction sector.
AXA IM Alts also grew its infrastructure equity platform, with more than €900m raised in 2021 and an active deployment over the year, including via the acquisition of strategic stakes in Amedes, a leading laboratory service provider.
Florence Dard, Global Head of Client Group at AXA IM Alts, commented: “To have achieved a record-breaking year of capital raising is testament both AXA IM Alts’ offering as an answer to our clients investment demands and of our demonstrated capacity to generate consistent long term investment performance across all our strategies. Moreover, the increasingly geographic diversification of our client base is a clear sign of continued confidence in AXA IM Alts’ ability to create exceptional opportunities for capital deployment and client returns globally, as we confirm our position as one of the world’s leading alternative investment managers. In 2022, we expect to grow our team and product offering in a number of strategic markets, while continuing to expand our pool of investors.”
