Private equity fundraising reaches post-crisis high

Second quarter private equity fundraising in the United States had its strongest period since the third quarter of 2008. Totals so far this year have been so strong that if year-to-date figures were to continue into the second half, they would lift the industry to its first $100 billion-plus year since the golden era between 2005 and 2008, reports Buyouts magazine.
“[Pensions] are back in the market, and more aggressive than they have been,” Bill Barnum, partner at Los Angeles-based Brentwood Associates, says in the article. “There are a lot of exits by GPs right now, and these distributions are creating a virtuous cycle, giving investors the ability to reallocate capital.”
Brentwood Associates is looking to start raising its fifth fund later this year.