Asia Alternatives is running a secondary sale process aimed at offloading positions worth over USD 800m from its earlier fund-of-funds, according to sources familiar with the situation.

The process comes about six months after the manager launched its seventh fund-of-funds with a target of USD 800m, three sources said. Fund VI, which closed in early 2022, comprised a USD 1.1bn commingled fund-of-funds plus USD 900m spread across a handful of separately managed accounts (SMAs).

Asia Alternatives – traditionally a regional access point for US institutional investors, including numerous state pension plans – is making a more than 20-fund portfolio of buyout, growth, and venture funds available via the secondary market, according to two additional sources. They include China, India, and Japan-focused funds as well as some pan-Asia vehicles.

Jefferies is advising on the process, which has already entered the final bidding round, the fifth source said.

The buyout and growth positions, which are being sold together, had a net asset value (NAV) of more than USD 500m as of 4Q24, the fourth and fifth and one further source said. It is described as a largely tail-end portfolio, largely comprising funds from the 2012-2013 vintages. The VC positions, which amount to around USD 300m in NAV, have a younger average vintage.

Muted private equity distributions have prompted many LPs to seek liquidity via the secondary market. LP-led secondary transaction volume reached a record USD 87bn in 2024, up from USD 60bn a year earlier, according to Jefferies’ latest Global Secondary Market Review.

Sellers include various Asian investors, with the likes of Hong Kong Jockey Club, China Investment Corporation, and LPs from Taiwan and Malaysia launching processes. Not all these processes have been concluded.

The investors are offloading global portfolios as opposed to the Asia-only deal being pursued by Asia Alternatives. Pricing for US-heavy global buyout fund positions is still relatively high, hitting 94% of NAV in 2024, the Jefferies review noted.

Asia PE and VC fundraising remains challenged – a consequence of weak distributions and international LPs looking to dial down risk. Weak appetite for the region impacts fund-of-funds as well. Axiom Asia closed its seventh vintage on USD 1.28bn in March, falling short of the USD 1.8bn target.

Asia Alternatives serves corporate pensions, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and family offices, as well as US public pensions. Structurally, Fund VI was similar to its predecessors. The commingled fund to SMA split in Fund V, which closed in 2017, was USD 1.52bn and USD 285m; in Fund IV, which closed two years earlier, it was USD 1bn and USD 800m.

Asia Alternatives and Jefferies both declined to comment.