“2024 was marked by large fund successes in raising a significant amount of capital while it was more challenging for less well-known funds,” said Karim Boussetta, regional director France & Benelux at Moonfare, during an online interview on 21 February 2025. Deal making slowed down, a direct consequence of rising rates that started in 2022, “from 0% to 4% to 5%.”
A macro-environment that shifted the cards
On the other hand, Boussetta explained that the elevated interest rate environment has been a fertile ground for co-investments, enabling limited partners (LPS) to invest alongside general partners (GPs) into a company without the burden of increased debt costs as co-investors replaced the creditors by supplying equity.
Although they represent a small portion of the total private equity market (1.5% according to Boussetta), secondary funds offer advantages such as liquidity generation and the opportunity to buy assets at a discount. Despite higher interest rates and macroeconomic volatility, he noted that some GPs were highly successful in raising money for secondaries funds such as Lexington X ($22.7bn) in 2024 and Ardian’s ASF IX ($30bn) in 2025, respectively, indicating strong market demand for the product.
An enhanced role in the private investment space
Boussetta commented that Moonfare has established relationships with numerous GPs, having facilitated over 100 rounds of fundraising. It manages €3.5bn in assets from private clients and family offices.
To take advantage of its network and the positive market development whereby investors are increasingly looking to exit the public market in favour of private assets, Moonfare is engineering a strategic shift by evolving from being a platform to being an investment manager. It decided to launch a secondaries fund (€30m in assets under management) and then a continuation fund. Their decisions were driven by their privileged access to deals through an extensive GP network.
Funds specifics
The secondaries fund has been set up as an evergreen fund (i.e., a semi-liquid structure with a single capital call) with an 18-month lockup period. It is dedicated to investing in secondaries assets that are categorised as LP-led and GP-led transactions. Boussetta commented that GP-led deals are often continuation funds (single or multi-assets). The targeted annual return is 12% to 15%.
Boussetta noted that a company with a strong business and performance potential is generally a candidate that a GP does not want to sell. It is therefore a typical candidate for a single-asset continuation fund. He explained that fees are often less than for usual private equity funds to better align interest. As such, the carried interest will sometimes be crystallised not before the asset is sold.
On the other hand, he explained that LP-led secondaries come from investors such as pension funds or insurance companies selling their fund interests, often at a discount due to private investment ratio constraints.
The Moonfare Secondary Fund aims for a 50/50 allocation between LP-led and GP-led deals. The fee structure is around 1.5% (management fee) and 10% (carry).
In addition to the secondaries fund, Moonfare launched a closed-end co-investment fund. It raised around €40m within three months while targeting €80m in AUM. It targets an internal rate of return (IRR) in the “20ish%” and a distribution to paid-in ratio (DPI) of 2.4X. Moonfare charges 1% in management fees, with a carry of 10% above an 8% hurdle.
In competition with other GPs on their platform?
Moonfare also offers secondary funds from other partners. However, it does not consider them as competitors, as Moonfaire raised capital for their fund, which are closed-end funds. “It is the first time that we are launching an evergreen fund on our platform,” said Boussetta.
Investors targeted
Currently, these funds are primarily targeted towards the wealth segment (investors with over €500,000 in assets with professional experience). Moreover, Boussetta believes that evergreen funds are gaining greater traction than closed-end funds.
The advantages of evergreen funds, such as an immediate investment and access to periodic liquidity, contrast with the fully invested nature and defined lifecycles of closed-ended funds.
“There has always been an illiquidity premium with private equity. As the evergreen fund holds a cash position of around 5%, it solves the issue.”
A European long-term investment fund (Eltif) is not currently a priority for Moonfare.