Last year was a banner year for alternative investments.
Alternative fundraising notched a new record at $86.1 billion in 2021, more than triple the 2020 total of $27.3 billion, according to a report released today by Shrewsbury, N.J.-based investment bank Robert A. Stanger & Co.
Blackstone Group led this huge annual fundraising haul by raking in more than $39 billion to alternatives, with $24.9 billion of that sum going to its BREIT and another $14 billion going to the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED).
“As Blackstone continued to smash all records, fundraising for all alternatives covered by Stanger surpassed even our most recent projection by more than $10 billion,” Kevin T. Gannon, chairman of Robert A. Stanger & Co. Inc., said in a statement.
The biggest categories for fundraising were non-traded REITs, where more than $36 billion was raised; interval funds, where more than $17.6 billion was raised, and non-traded BDCs, where more than $15.8 billion was raised.
Aside from Blackstone, other top alternative investment sponsors identified by Stanger include Starwood Capital ($6.3 billion raised), Cliffwater LLC ($4.3 billion raised), Ares Management ($2.4 billion raised) and Blue Owl Capital ($2.2 billion raised).