A firm specializing in private markets investing has far exceeded its target for its final closing of a new secondaries fund.

International investments firm HarbourVest Partners, a US-headquartered private markets asset manager, has announced the final close of a secondaries fund, emphatically beating its target to raise $4.77 billion. The target was $3.6 billion.

The secondaries market in private assets, such as private equity, has expanded in recent years amid a more general expansion in the private capital markets since the financial crisis. Since 1995, private equity assets have surged from $30 billion to approximately $4 trillion 20 years later (source: SEI). While the traditional route for exiting such investments is through a sale of a company, or an initial public offering, there is a developing market of private equity investors selling their stakes to others.

Limited partners in the fund span the globe and consist of corporations, pension funds, endowments, foundations and high net worth private sector investors, HarbourVest said in a statement earlier this week. 

“As the secondaries market continues to evolve, these competitive advantages have helped us to remain well positioned to continue to provide our investors with access to the best opportunities available,” Brett Gordon, managing director, HarbourVest, said.

The firm’s secondaries platform focuses on acquiring fund interests diversified by stage, geography and investment year. 

“Our first secondary transaction took place in 1986 and it’s exciting to celebrate the 30thanniversary with the closing of our latest secondaries fund,” said Gordon. “We’ve completed more than 400 transactions over the past three decades,” he said.

HarbourVest’s team has committed more than $31 billion to newly-formed funds, completed over $14 billion in secondary purchases, and invested $5 billion directly in operating companies.