Coller Capital, Ares Management Raise Billions for Secondaries Funds

The $17 billion raised for Coller International Partners IX is already 70% deployed, while Ares raised $7.1 billion for its inaugural credit strategy.
Reported by Matt Toledo



Amidst strong demand for private markets secondaries investments, Coller Capital Inc. and Ares Management Corp. each announced the closing of multi-billion-dollar secondaries funds on Tuesday.
 

Coller announced the closing of Coller International Partners IX—the firm’s largest private equity secondaries fund to date. Coller raised $17 billion in commitments from more than 250 limited partners, including pension funds, insurance companies, sovereign funds, asset managers and other financial institutions. The fund will invest in LP-led and general partner-led secondary transactions around the world, according to the announcement. 

Ares Management  announced the close of its own $7.1 billion credit secondaries strategy, including the final closing of its inaugural Ares Credit Secondaries Fund. Ares raised $4 billion in LP commitments for the fund, double its $2 billion target, which the firm identified as its largest institutional fundraiser for an inaugural fund. The $7.1 billion total for the strategy includes affiliated vehicles and anticipated leverage.  

Ares’ credit strategy aims to “construct a highly diversified portfolio of predominantly senior secured, private equity-backed and floating-rate private credit portfolios by tactically allocating across LP-led and continuation vehicle transactions in collaboration with leading asset managers,” according to the announcement. 

Coller manages $50 billion in assets, and its private equity secondaries platform invests in commingled funds, co-investment vehicles, separately managed accounts and equity perpetual funds. Ares manages $38 billion across its secondaries platform and $595 billion across the firm.  

CBRE Investment Management also announced on Tuesday the closing of a $1.62 billion secondaries fund targeting real estate investments.  

Demand for Secondaries Grows 

The secondaries market for private equity and other alternative investment fund stakes has grown year-over-year, as LPs sell into the market to offload older vintages; hunt for deals; and manage their liquidity. The trend toward secondaries has grown as private fund exits have slowed in recent years. 

According to data from law firm Ropes & Gray, secondaries market volume grew to $165 billion through the third quarter of 2025, and it is expected that full-year 2025 transaction volume reached $210 billion. By comparison, 2024 saw $160 billion in secondaries volume, and 2023 had $114 billion, according to Ropes & Gray.  

In the firm’s 2026 market outlook, Coller Capital forecast another blockbuster year for secondaries. The firm anticipates that in the long term, secondaries could grow to $500 billion in deal volume by 2030.  

As a result of the growing demand from LPs for secondaries investments, many GPs are closing record-setting secondaries funds. In January 2025, alternative investor Ardian raised $30 billion for its ninth-generation secondaries fund, ASF IX. Blackstone, in September 2025, closed its largest dedicated infrastructure secondaries fund, Strategic Partners Infrastructure IV, with $5.5 billion in commitments. 

“[2025] was another record year for the secondary market as market volatility and a heightened demand for liquidity attracted more investors to the many virtues of secondaries,” said Jeremy Coller, CIO and managing partner of Coller Capital, in a statement. “Secondaries are no longer seen as a tactical portfolio rebalancing tool but a core component of diversified portfolios.”  

Related Stories: 

WTW to Acquire Secondaries Manager FlowStone 

Secondaries, and Market Complexity, on the Rise 

LP-, GP-Led Secondaries Grow to Record Volumes in 2025 

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Ares Management, Coller Capital, Private Equity, secondaries,