The €38bn private equity investor AlpInvest returned 21% last year on a euro basis, allowing it to return €6.8bn to its 30 institutional investors, predominantly pension funds.

In its 2014 annual report, it attributed the return chiefly to “exit markets, which continued to be strong”, adding that, over the last two years, the performance of its funds with exposure to the pre-2008 peak years “improved significantly”.

AlpInvest said it invested €3.6bn in total last year and had a “healthy level” of commitments for 2015.

Jacques Chappuis, who succeeded Volkert Doeksen as executive chairman last year, said: “The European market offered an interesting and steady stream of opportunities for fund investments, following signs of recovery, low interest rates, low private equity penetrations and relatively lower values compared with the US.”

Chappuis added that the outlook for India had also improved.

AlpInvest acquired four new mandates in 2014, including one from Horeca & Catering, the €6.5bn pension fund for the Dutch hospitality and catering industry.

The private equity investor said it was in the process of upgrading its IT systems for improved efficiency and announced the launch a new portal to provide access to reports across investors’ alternatives portfolios.

The company also announced that it has obtained an AIFMD licence from Dutch regulator AFM for managing funds-of-funds and private equity products for professional investors.

AlpInvest, one of the world’s largest private equity houses, has been fully owned by Carlyle Group since 2013.

It had been founded by Dutch civil service pension fund ABP and healthcare scheme PFZW 15 years ago. 

Both schemes still have large stakes in AlpInvest and recently committed new capital to the private equity investor.

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