Moonfare Core Portfolio II Closes at Milestone €100m+ in Capital

Global private equity platform Moonfare has hit a strategic milestone with the final close of its second core portfolio, Moonfare Core Portfolio II (Core II), which surpassed its fundraising target, propelling a proprietary Moonfare portfolio beyond the €100m mark for the first time.

“This is an important milestone for Moonfare, and particularly significant because the allocations were made in the midst of a challenging public market environment,” said Moonfare CEO and founder Steffen Pauls.* “It also reaffirms once again that our dream of broadening top-tier private market access is a shared one.”

Pauls continued, “Around a fifth of our investor community allocated to Core II, demonstrating trust in our digital platform and in our ability to curate a selection of globally leading funds.”

As its name suggests, Core II is a central plank in Moonfare’s mission to bring private equity funds of top-tier managers within reach for individual investors. Designed to sit at the heart of an individual’s private investments portfolio, it offers access to buyout and buyout-related strategies, such as secondaries and co-investments, one of the most established areas of private equity.

Pauls said, “Top-flight buyout funds have historically offered high risk-adjusted returns, with higher returns and lower volatility than public equity markets. Because of their focus on companies with proven business models and real assets, buyouts increased in popularity last year; they are a core staple of a diversified private equity portfolio.”

Like Moonfare’s other portfolio solutions, Core II offers diversification by geography, fund manager, sub-investment strategy, and target sector with one single investment ticket starting from €50,000. Its 12 underlying investments focus on mid- and large-cap buyout strategies, as well as providing exposure to handpicked secondaries and co-investment opportunities. Its geographical reach spans Europe, North America, and the rest of the world. GPs include top-quartile managers such as Apax, EQT, Lexington Partners (secondaries), and Permira.

In keeping with Moonfare’s mission to democratise access to private markets, the Moonfare portfolios have continued to prove popular with investors making their first allocations to alternatives, and to millennials, who, as Moonfare shows in its recent white paper PE Pulse, form a growing proportion of Moonfare’s private investor base.

The portfolio’s first vintage, Moonfare Core Portfolio I, closed in 2020 at €75m, 50% over target.