The stage was set; through the first three quarters of the year, 2018 fundraising volume was setting a torrid pace, only slightly trailing the pace set in 2008 when fund sponsors raised a record $134.9 billion. The nine-month total for 2018 stood at $99.2 billion, slightly behind the 2008 nine-month total of $118.8 billion. But it wasn’t meant to be. Only 23 funds — the lowest number since second quarter 2012 (21) — announced final closings during the fourth-quarter, raising an aggregate $13.1 billion of equity. The fourth quarter figure was the lowest dollar volume since first quarter 2013 ($8.1 billion).

Despite the fourth-quarter slowdown, fund sponsors raised $112.3 billion during 2018, a healthy figure that represents the second-highest mark since the global financial crisis. The total is 15 percent higher than the 2017 total of $98.0 billion.

But don’t get the wrong idea… fundraising has not screeched to a halt; in fact, it has roared back in early 2019