Strong realisations at Pantheon listed fund(2)

Listed fund of funds Pantheon International Participations (PIP) received £84.9 million (€110.9 million; $168.5 million) of realisations in the six months to December 2007, an increase of 43 percent on the equivalent period in the previous year.

The total comprised £32.5 million from its primary portfolio and £52.4 million from its secondary portfolio.

PIP’s net asset value per share increased by 14.5 percent to £10.53 in the six months to December, against a 1.3 percent increase in the world equities index MSCI World and a decrease in the FTSE All Share index of 2.1 percent over the same period.

Total assets rose by £88.5 million to almost £700 million, mainly due to an increase in investment value.

The fund invested £146.2 million in private equity assets during the period, an increase of 16 percent on the equivalent period in 2006. Of this, £76.3 million was invested in primary funds and £69.9 million in secondary assets.

The fund made six commitments (which the firm does not count as investments until they are drawn down) to primary funds worth £90.4 million, an increase of 4 percent on the same period in the previous year. These were committed to six European funds, nine US funds and one Israeli fund. The listed fund’s commitments to Asia are managed through Pantheon Ventures’ Asian fund of funds, which committed to five funds.

The listed fund committed £62.1 million to eight secondary transactions.

Pantheon managing partner Andrew Lebus said in a statement he expected distributions and investments to be at a lower level in 2008 than in recent years due to the tightening of the credit markets making buyout deals more difficult.

But Lebus said: “The venture market has been less affected by the credit market slowdown making it possible for investment within the venture market to continue in 2008. With 29 percent of [the fund’s] portfolio in venture capital funds, we are well placed to benefit from any continued activity.”