Clarion Partners Europe has secured over €500m of equity commitments for its European core-plus strategies, in what CEO Alistair Calvert describes as significant fundraising momentum in Europe.
Calvert told IPE Real Assets that capital raised represented a record first-quarter volume for the European arm of US-headquartered Clarion Partners since the repricing of the past four years.
Clarion Partners Europe has seen a sudden renewed appetite for core-plus strategies from both new and existing investors since last summer.
“During the repricing and inflationary period of the last four years, capital was heavily focused on private credit and value-add strategies, while the flow of equity into core-plus funds was very limited,” Calvert said. “We saw this change significantly from the second half of last year.”
He added: “New commitments predominantly came from existing investors re-upping. Since mid-2025, we have continued to see re-ups, but for the first time, significant inflows have come from new investors.”
IPE Real Assets understands that the sources of capital are global, including investors from Japan, Europe and North America, while more than half of capital came from the Middle Eastern investors. Most of the capital was provided by institutional investors, including a number of large pension funds.
Clarion Partners Europe’s core-plus investment platform focuses on logistics and net-lease opportunities, where commercial tenants pay for operating expenses as well as rent.
“Interest in net lease has changed markedly since last summer,” Calvert said, adding that the trend is likely to become more pronounced as investors place greater emphasis on income in the current cycle.
“We are seeing a stronger focus on dividend yields across most, if not all, geographies – certainly more than at any point in the past 20 years,” he says. “Wealth capital and family offices value the certainty of returns, while for pension funds these assets can closely match liabilities, acting as an effective hedge against inflation due to built-in rental escalators.
“We believe investors may be pivoting away from credit, but they continue to seek income strategies, and net lease offers a compelling solution.”
Calvert said it was too early to comment on second-quarter fundraising figures but expects further capital inflows, provided the situation in the Middle East does not deteriorate.
“It is difficult to predict volumes given what is happening in the region and the potential impact,” he said.
“We have not yet seen investors withdraw as a result of the crisis, but heightened uncertainty typically has a negative effect on capital raising. Clearly, the conflict in Iran presents a significant level of uncertainty.”
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