Fundraising gods

There was a lot to digest from Apollo Global Management’s second quarter earnings call last Thursday. Here are the highlights:

• Apollo added almost $100 billion in AUM, primarily through two big transactions in its permanent capital arm;
• Having “quarterbacked” those two transactions, as co-founder Leon Black (pictured above) put it, fellow co-founder and senior managing director Marc Rowan is taking a “semi-sabbatical”, stepping back from the day-to-day running of the insurance platform;
• In a separate statement on Friday, Rowan said: “Taking a step back from day-to-day operations will allow me to focus my energy on the strategic direction of Apollo and its insurance and financial services businesses in particular. I have the utmost confidence in Apollo’s co-presidents Jim Zelter and Scott Kleinman and the entire senior management team to continue to lead the firm’s strong growth and performance”;
• Apollo is now in market with the next series of Accord strategies, as well as a second Hybrid Value fund;
• After steep depreciation in Q1, the PE portfolio is up 11.7 percent, and Fund VIII is up 17 percent, meaning it’s now out of clawback;
• Credit AUM is up $91 billion, which includes $6 billion of new commitments raised for Apollo Strategic Origination Partners (paywall), and $1.75 billion for dislocation credit fund Accord Fund III B.

Carlyle diversity push

Carlyle, as well raising $12.4 billion in H1, has taken its commitment to diversity and inclusion up a notch, according to a spokeswoman. The firm is expanding its portfolio board diversity goal to 30 percent of all directors for companies controlled by Carlyle’s private equity arm by 2023. The previous goal – set in 2016 – was to have a diverse board for all US private equity-controlled companies within two years of taking control. That figure is up from 38 percent in 2016 to 77 percent today. Other highlights:

• Last year Carlyle implemented a requirement that at least two diverse candidates be interviewed for each open role. From now on, in the US, at least one of the candidates is required to be Black, Latino, Pacific Islander or Native American;
• At quarterly business reviews, leaders and managers will be assessed against specific fund and departmental diversity and inclusion plans, informing decisions on promotions and rewards. All employees will also be asked to include a D&I-related personal objective as part of a new objective-setting process set to be introduced in 2021.

Scoop catch-up

In case you missed it, here are some of last week’s scoops:

• Preferred equity pioneer 17Capital launched a NAV-based lending platform. NAV loans have become flavour of the month amid the covid-19 induced downturn;
• European mid-market firm Vitruvian Partners quickly raised €4 billion for its fourth fund. Its last fund was €2.4 billion. Carmela Mendoza had the scoop.

Inside tip