Ardian Raises Record $30B for 9th Secondaries Fund

Ardian has raised $30 billion for the ninth iteration of its secondaries platform, setting a record for the largest secondaries fundraise in history.

The raise, which was oversubscribed and closed at its hard cap, is a substantial increase from the previous vintage, which closed at $19 billion in June 2020. The new platform has increased Ardian’s total secondaries and primaries assets under management to $97 billion.

Ardian Secondary Fund IX raised capital from over 465 investors across 44 countries, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds and high-net worth individuals. Private wealth clients showed particularly strong interest, accounting for 22% of the total equity raised, up from 11% in the previous fund.

Mark Benedetti, executive president and co-head of Secondaries at Ardian, cited current market conditions as particularly favorable for secondary investments. “We are actively capitalizing on a generational buying opportunity for secondaries,” he said.

The private investment firm has already deployed 50% of the new fund, with an average deal size of $2 billion for LP portfolios.