Partners : reports gross client demand of EUR 6.2 billion and USD 7.7 billion in new investments in H1 2018

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, received EUR 6.2 billion in new commitments in H1 2018 from its global client base for private markets investment. The commitments bring total assets under management (AuM) to EUR 67.1 billion as of 30 June 2018 (31 December 2017: EUR 61.9 billion). The net growth of AuM amounts to 8%.

USD 7.7 billioninvested across the entire platform
In H1 2018, Partners Group invested a total of USD 7.7 billion on behalf of its clients across all private markets asset classes in geographies and industry sectors that exhibit favorable relative value characteristics. The firm continued to take a highly disciplined and prudent approach to investment and maintained its high standards of selectivity in a market characterized by full valuations.

Partners Group's investment professionals screened more than 1,400 potential direct transactions across all asset classes, investing in 40 of them and registering a decline rate of 97%. USD 4.7 billion (60% of total investment volume) was deployed in direct transactions, of which a total of USD 2.8 billion was invested as equity in individual assets and USD 1.8 billion was invested in corporate debt.

Christoph Rubeli, Partner and Co-Chief Executive Officer, comments: 'In this environment, a strong focus for corporate assets ison investing in category leaders in resilient sectors with supportive industry tailwinds and low risk of disruption. These assets significantly benefit from Partners Group's entrepreneurial approach to governance, allowing them to utilize our deep sector and functional expertise to fuel growth and strengthen their market position.'

For real assets, in infrastructure, Partners Group's investment team focuses on building core assets and expanding platforms in the renewable energy, communications, and energy infrastructure sectors. In real estate, the team seeks investments which benefit from trends such as the rise in e-commerce, which is generating demand for new logistics space, and new urbanization, which is generating demand for more modern offices and apartments.

Partners Group's secondary investment specialists generated USD 73 billion in private markets assets deal flow and invested in just below 3% of this, representing a total of USD 1.9 billion (24% of total investment volume). To complement its direct and secondary investments, the firm committed USD 1.2 billion (16% of total investment volume) to select private markets managers.

AuM development in H1 2018

In H1 2018, clients entrusted Partners Group with EUR 6.2 billion in new commitments, with this demand being well-diversified across regions. In terms of main contributors to H1 2018 program fundraising, the firm's global value private equity, global real estate secondaries, and multi-asset credit and senior loan strategies all featured strongly.

André Frei, Partner and Co-Chief Executive Officer, states: 'We continue to see a broad cross-section of client types seeking to further build out their exposure to private markets. In the first half of the year, our client demand was spread across more than two dozen individual programs and mandates, with many of our more sizable clients requesting the creation of bespoke private markets portfolios, either through single or multi-asset class mandates.'

Next to the gross client demand of EUR 6.2 billion received in H1 2018, tail-down effects from mature private markets investment programs and redemptions from liquid and semi-liquid vehicles amounted to a total of EUR -1.8 billion. Foreign exchange effects were the main driver of other effects amounting to a total of EUR +0.7 billion. Overall, this resulted in net AuM growth of EUR 5.2 billion during the period and a new total AuM of 67.1 billion as of 30 June 2018.

The breakdown of total AuM as of 30 June 2018 is as follows: EUR 34 billion private equity (50%), EUR 13 billion private debt (20%), EUR 12 billion private real estate (17%), and EUR 9 billion private infrastructure (13%).

Total grossclient demand for2018 confirmed
Based on a solid first half of the year as well as a favorable pipeline of client demand, the firm confirms the communicated expected range of EUR 11-14 billion in new client commitments for the full year 2018, together with EUR -4.5 to -5.5 billion in tail-down effects from the more mature Partners Group programs and potential redemptions from liquid and semi-liquid programs.

Conference call today
Partners Group's senior management will hold a conference call today at 9am CET. Dial-in details can be obtained by using the contact details below. The semi-annual results as of 30 June 2018 will be published on 11 September 2018.