Temasek’s Azalea Group has announced first closings of US$356 million ($473.6 million) for its Altrium Co-Invest Fund I (ACF I) and Altrium Growth Fund I (AGF I) in December last year.
Azalea focuses on the development and innovation of new investment platforms and products to make private equity (PE) accessible to a broader group of investors. Its Altrium programme, for instance, enables accredited investors to co-invest with Azalea, gaining access to top-performing global PE fund managers.
Since fundraising commenced in mid-2023, ACF I successfully secured US$200 million in its first closing. Leveraging Azalea's extensive network and being part of the Temasek ecosystem, ACF I offers investors the opportunity to co-invest alongside renowned and high-performing private equity fund managers with strong operational and M&A capabilities.
These managers focus on investing in US and European companies that demonstrate significant sector tailwinds or recession resilience.
Similarly, AGF I, which invests in top-tier growth and venture capital funds and maintains a global mandate with a strong focus on the US, marked its first closing at US$156 million. Given the recalibration in valuations and emergence of new trends such as artificial intelligence (AI), Azalea believes that the fund is poised to invest during an opportune time in the growth and venture capital markets.
According to Azalea, both ACF I and AGF I attracted commitments from a diverse range of investors including institutions, family offices and high-net-worth individuals. Azalea plans to hold the final closings of these funds in 2024.
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Margaret Lui, CEO of Azalea, says: “This milestone demonstrates the trust and confidence our investors have in Azalea's strategic vision and our capability to identify unique investment opportunities, even in challenging market conditions.”
Azalea’s CIO Chue En Yaw adds: “ACF I and AGF I build on the success of our flagship Altrium PE fund of fund products, embodying the evolution of our product offerings to meet the demands of investors. These funds are designed to provide accredited investors diversified and resilient investment options, continuing the high-quality investment legacy of our Altrium platform.”
For retail investors, Azalea also sponsors and manages the Astrea platform which provides diversification in investors’ portfolios. The series of bonds is backed by cashflows from diversified portfolios of PE funds, present investors with attractive yields and strong downside protection.
To date, Azalea has launched several series of Astrea PE bonds with Astrea 7 being the latest in May 2022. Two of the Astrea series, Astrea III and Astrea IV, have been fully redeemed.
