A total of 31 new investment funds were launched during the third quarter of 2014. As a group they are seeking to raise approximately $23.4 billion. The fundraising target is up from second quarter’s $13 billion target, but not quite reaching the level of the first quarter, when 48 funds launched with a fundraising target of $26 billion.

The geographic focus that took the spotlight this quarter was the U.S. property market, accounting for approximately $13 billion of the total fundraising goal. This is up from 48 percent of the second quarter’s total and 30 percent of the first quarter’s total.

The mega-fund trend continues in the new funds category as well, with The Blackstone Group’s Blackstone Property Partners fund, an open-end core-plus fund that was launched in July, looking to raise approximately $5 billion. Blackstone Property Partners will invest directly in office, industrial, retail and apartment properties in the U.S., but it also will be able to ma