One of Australia’s longest running private equity funds, MLC Private Equity, a division of NAB Asset Management, has today announced that its new MLC Private Equity Fund II has closed oversubscribed.

The $160 million fund raising, which targeted high net worth investors (HNW) and family offices, is one of the largest private equity fund raisings in this space in Australian history.

MLC Head of Private Equity, Alicia Gregory, said: “We’re delighted with the strong support we have received from HNW investors and family offices for the MLC Private Equity Fund II raising, and to close oversubscribed is an endorsement of our experienced program.’’

“The MLC Private Equity program has been running for 20 years and has a proven track record of delivering annual returns of about 15 per cent since inception.’’

Ms Gregory attributed the success of MLC Private Equity to its extremely selective approach to investing and the team’s focus on identifying the best private equity fund managers from around the world.

“The relationships we’ve formed globally over the past 20 years allow us to offer investors access to markets and deals they may not be able to access on their own.

“These unique relationships have given us early access to many great businesses, including venture capital investments in companies like Facebook and Uber.’’

MLC Private Equity successfully launched the MLC Private Equity Fund I in 2013 and is responsible for managing a $5bn portfolio, including allocations within the flagship MLC Inflation Plus and MLC Horizon multi-asset super and pension portfolios.

Ms Gregory said funds raised from the MLC Private Equity Fund II would go towards investments around the globe, with a particular focus on Europe and North America.

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