Gigantic Blackstone fund boosts 2012 fundraising total

Fundraising activity surged in fourth quarter 2012 to $24.2 billion, the highest mark since third quarter 2008, when investment managers raised more than $36 billion of equity capital. The 12-month total of $56.9 billion also represents a recent high-water mark, last eclipsed in 2008 at the market peak when the annual figure totaled nearly $135 billion.

The fourth quarter and year-end totals were goosed by the closing of The Blackstone Group’s $13.3 billion Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII (BREP VII) in October. The opportunistic-style fund became the largest private equity real estate fund ever. The capital raised by BREP VII represents 55 percent of the fourth quarter 2012 fundraising total and 23.4 percent of the 2012 annual total. So, to say the fundraising totals were somewhat skewed by the one megafund would be somewhat of an understatement.

Investment managers around the globe successfully closed fundraising on 86 real estate funds in 2012. Eig