Defying the Problems Elsewhere, Financiers Raise Billions in Asia

Investment fund raising in Asia shows no sign of abating and is, in fact, reaching records even as tightening credit conditions have created a fund-raising crunch in Europe and the U.S. With all the new megafunds, 2007 is turning out to be a year of record fund raising in Asia. So far this year private-equity firms have raised $24.65 billion from Asian-targeted funds -- almost the level of the $26.62 billion raised in the whole of 2006, according to the Centre for Asia Private Equity Research.

"Private equity as an asset class has become mainstream, which means private equity is growing faster and will continue to do so," said David Eich, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Hong Kong.

This article appeared in its entirety in the August 31, 2007 edition of The Wall Street Journal.