London Stock Exchange (LSE) has seen a 10-year high in new fund listings in the first half of 2015, buoyed by growing interest from international fund managers.
The first six months of the year have seen 14 fund IPOs in London, raising a total of £2.3 billion, the most raised in the first half of any year since the onset of the finance crisis in 2008.
LSE said it had attracted increasingly diversified funds, including microcap, infrastructure specific funds and generalists.
More international investors are listing their funds in London, with Volta Finance and Fondul Proprietatea choosing to add a secondary line on LSE, with primary listing in Amsterdam and Bucharest respectively. Additionally, 20% of money raised is from US fund managers.
Darko Hajdukovic, head of research and product innovation, primary markets at LSE said: “This year’s surge in fund listings demonstrates London’s ability to finance a variety of issuers from across the world and we expect to see a similar trend continuing in the second half of 2015. Particularly encouraging is the return of private equity funds to the market.
“The listing of Apax Global Alpha Limited marks the first private equity fund admission since 2010 – a significant success for London and the industry.”