Alts Fundraising Totals $45.7B in Q1, a 10% Drop From Q1 2025
Alternative investment fundraising totaled approximately $45.7 billion in the first quarter of 2026, down 10% from Q1 2025 and 19% from Q4 2025, according to investment banking firm Robert A. Stanger & Company Inc.
March fundraising totaled approximately $15 billion, a 4.5% decline from February and an 18% drop from March 2025 levels. Tender offer funds captured the largest share of March sales with $2.8 billion in gross inflows, followed by business development companies at $2.7 billion and interval funds at $2.5 billion.
A steep decline in BDC fundraising accounted for much of the decline. Combined publicly registered and private placement BDC sales totaled $8.9 billion in Q1 2026, down 45% from Q1 2025. Across all vehicle types, total credit fundraising in Q1 fell 30% year-over-year to $18.9 billion.
In contrast, allocations toward HALO strategies – hard assets with low obsolescence – continued to build. Real estate strategies posted $7.2 billion in Q1 2026 fundraising, up 26% from Q1 2025, while infrastructure strategies totaled $5.8 billion, up 14%. Combined HALO fundraising of $13.1 billion represented a 20% year-over-year increase.
The HALO category describes a strategic rotation away from “asset-light” growth stocks toward tangible, “real economy” businesses difficult to replicate or replace with artificial intelligence technology, such as those with massive physical infrastructure: logistics networks, energy assets, factories, and warehouses.
Stanger said the data points to a reallocation of capital away from credit-oriented strategies and toward hard asset exposures.
“The capital rotation out of private credit is no longer emerging – it’s firmly underway,” said Kevin T. Gannon, chairman and chief executive officer of Stanger. “Investor demand for private credit has softened meaningfully, while real estate and infrastructure strategies continue to gain traction. This shift reflects a broader move toward hard assets, and we expect it to remain a defining theme throughout 2026.”
The top 20 sponsors by gross fundraising year-to-date are summarized below. The top five are Blackstone, Ares Management Corporation, KKR, Cliffwater and Blue Owl Capital.
“Private placements accounted for 51% of total fundraising in Q1 2026, up from 40% a year ago,” said Randy Sweetman, executive managing director at Stanger. “Much of that growth is driven by the broader rotation toward HALO strategies. As capital continues to move away from credit, private placement vehicles continue to capture an increasing share of that reallocation.”
Founded in 1978, Robert A. Stanger & Company is an investment banking firm providing advisory, valuation, and capital markets services to real estate investment trusts, partnerships, and related entities.
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