Retail private equity platform Moonfare has more than doubled its assets in less than a year to €2 billion ($2.1 billion) in AUM and has surpassed 40,000 registered users.
Officials at the Berlin-based fintech say that they continue to see momentum as investors look to alternative assets for portfolio diversification and to benefit from private equity’s record returns.
“There’s something really exciting happening in private markets,” said Steffen Pauls, CEO and founder of Moonfare and former KKR executive in Germany. “Many regard the democratization of private equity as one of the largest disruptions in financial history and I personally think this is true.”
Based in Berlin, Moonfare operates in 23 countries across Europe, Asia, America and has offices in New York, Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Singapore and Zürich. Pauls added that the asset growth on the platform progressed at a faster clip than originally anticipated. Last week, the firm opened its seventh global office in Zurich with more to come as the firm expands into Israel and elsewhere.
The fundraising across the private equity industry has been unprecedented and while some have wondered whether private equity could repeat 2021’s historic gains, Moonfare points to research that shows that private equity’s highest returns follow economic downturns.
“Data shows that recession-era vintages are indeed among the best performing,” said Pauls. He added that the 2001 vintage has been one of the best performing vintages over the last 20 years. Pauls added that the near record levels of dry powder in the industry is challenging.
“Most recently markets have been characterized by three factors: surging inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical challenges,” said Pauls. “In this new environment, investors who opt for a balanced portfolio and diversify as broadly as possible into assets such as private equity, stand the best chance of continuing to generate high returns as earlier recessions have demonstrated.”
On the part of Moonfare, the firm works with fund managers with strong, consistent track records and high-quality investment and operational teams such as KKR, Carlyle and EQT. The investment team conducts full due diligence on all funds. Annually over 200 funds are screened and fewer than 5% of available funds pass this process to make it onto the Moonfare platform.
