Axiom closes third Asia fund at $1.15b - update

Co-founded by former executives of Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC in 2006, Axiom closed its Axiom Asia Private Capital Fund I at $440 million in 2007 and raised another $950 million for its second fund in 2010.

Axiom's third Asia fund has already received $1.4 billion in commitments and was capped at $1.15 billion, the firm told Reuters. About 60% of the fund is raised from investors in the US, followed by 25% from European investor,s while most of the remainder was from the Middle East, Bloomberg reported. Nashville (Tenn.) & Davidson County Metropolitan Government, the $2 billion US pension fund, has committed $30 million.

"Geographically we tend to do about half our investments in Greater China," said Chihtsung Lam, a managing partner at Axiom, who added that India is the next biggest market for the company.

While China is emerging as largely a growth capital market, the fund-of-funds manager singled out the retail sector as a key focus. ""The retail space is actually not well developed in emerging markets in Asia, except the first-tier cities in countries like China and India," said Chris Loh, a partner at the firm.

Loh added that people in second and third-tier cities were increasingly affluent, but they sometimes encountered difficulties in purchasing the goods they wanted.

"E-commerce has become a major trend in recent years both in China and in India, and start-ups have emerged to become the Amazon.coms of China and India," Loh added. "So we are seeing venture capitalists starting up in that space in both these countries. It is a very promising trend."

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• Topics
• Fundraising
• Fundraising
• Growth capital
• Axiom Asia Private Capital
• China
• India