Apollo Global Management Winner
There is an arms race brewing among large buyout funds as private equity fundraising approached record levels in 2017. And Apollo Global Management accomplished a historic feat last year by raising the largest private equity fund ever over the summer.

Apollo Investment Fund IX secured $24.6 billion in July, topping the firm’s $18.4 billion eighth fund raised in 2013.

Strong returns are the key to the firm’s fundraising prowess. The eighth fund generated a net internal rate of return (IRR) of 16%. Its seventh fund posted a net IRR of 26%, and the fund prior posted a net IRR of 9%.

Dating back to 1990, its private equity funds generated an overall net IRR of 25%, according to its investor presentations. The new war chest will be crucial as other rivals have raised mega funds of their own this year, and the bidding wars for companies promises to be fierce. Along with other private firms, Apollo will compete for corporate targets flushed with cash.

Private Equity Finalists

• KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts)

• Pantheon

• Platte River Equity