Affinity’s Fund IV Races Toward $3.5B Goal

The fund is targeting $3.5 billion, substantially more than Fund IV’s predecessor, Fund III, which raised $2.8 billion in 2010. That fund has performed very strongly, delivering a net IRR of 15.7 percent along with a net return multiple of 1.4x according to September 2012 return data from Washington State. The pension system committed $100 to Fund III in 2010.

Besides Washington State, other pensions to have committed money to Fund IV include the Maine Public Employees’ Retirement System, which committed $30 million, and the District of Columbia Retirement Board, which committed $15 million.

Affinity Equity Partners invests in buyouts across East Asia, including China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. The firm does not invest in India. Calls to the its headquarters in Hong Kong were not returned.

Based in Hong Kong, Affinity Equity Partners was founded in 2002 by Tang Kok-Yew as the private equity arm of UBS’s Asian unit. Just two years later, the firm was spun out and took the name Affinity Equity Partners. The firm manages more than $4 billion in invested private equity capital and has secondary offices in Beijing, Seoul, Singapore, Jakarta and Sydney.  

Fundraising was assisted by MVision, a placement agency, which did not not return calls requesting comment.