Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) announced today that Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (Morgan Stanley AIP) raised $1 billion in commitments for Morgan Stanley Private Markets Fund III ("Private Markets Fund III").
"We've had strong demand for this offering from clients worldwide," said Cory Pulfrey, Head of Morgan Stanley AIP. "The majority of our largest existing investors in our prior private markets fund have committed to Private Markets Fund III and we've also added a number of new limited partners, including insurance companies, endowments, foundations, pension plans, family offices and other high net worth investors. We believe that our successful fund-raising effort demonstrates a vote of confidence in both our highly opportunistic investment approach and our talented team of investors."
The objective of Private Markets Fund III is to provide investors with superior risk-adjusted returns through global investments in primary funds, co-investments and direct secondaries. Morgan Stanley AIP Global Diversified Fund LP ("Private Markets Fund II"), which Morgan Stanley AIP launched in April 2004, shared the same objective and raised $500 million in commitments.
Private Markets Fund III incorporates three main strategies: Buyouts, primarily North American and Western European, Global Venture Capital and Special Situations. Morgan Stanley AIP's investment strategy emphasizes less efficient market segments and targets managers with unique skill sets in the U.S., Western Europe and emerging private-equity markets like Japan. Morgan Stanley AIP currently expects that Private Markets Fund III, in addition to investing in private equity funds, will invest approximately one third of its committed capital in a combination of secondary interests and direct co-investments made alongside high quality financial sponsors.
"We proactively seek out investment opportunities that are unique and that other managers may not be as likely to consider," said Tom Dorr, Chief Investment Officer, Private Markets Team. "We continue to believe that attractive risk-adjusted returns can be achieved by having a global focus, a diversified portfolio and also by considering a wide range of investment opportunities broadly within private equity."
"The success of Private Markets Fund III clearly demonstrates investors' high demand for expertise in the alternatives space," said Stuart Bohart, Head of Alternative Investments at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. "Building our alternatives business is a key priority for the Firm and providing our clients market leading, innovative product offerings like this is critical to our strategy."
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, asset management and credit services. With more than 600 offices in 30 countries, Morgan Stanley connects people, ideas and capital to help clients achieve their financial aspirations.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management
The firm's investment management division, with over 400 investment professionals around the world, manages assets in excess of $442 billion and offers asset management services to a diverse client base which includes: governments, institutions, corporations, and individuals.
Morgan Stanley AIP
Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners (Morgan Stanley AIP) is Morgan Stanley's primary portfolio of private equity funds and portfolio of hedge funds manager, and is part of the broader Morgan Stanley Investment Management business. As of June 16, 2006, the Private Markets team of Morgan Stanley AIP oversees more than $4.39 billion in private equity commitments in portfolios of private equity funds and separately managed accounts and is one of the largest fund of private equity funds managers in the world.