Australia leads the charge for the highest share of private equity investors in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, accounting for 23 percent of the region, Preqin data shows.

According to Preqin’s latest Raising funds from private wealth report, Australia and Singapore have been identified as regional private wealth “hotspots” and as such are pockets of wealth for fundraising organizations to target.

Breaking this down, Australia by January 2024. also accounts for about 25 percent of single-family offices and over 10 percent of multi-family offices in APAC.

With wealth managers and family offices globally allocating around 22.6 per cent of assets under management (AUM) to alternatives, Preqin highlighted that Australia is ripe with opportunities, with local private wealth investors representing an expanding pool of potential capital .

"As in the US and Europe, the Australian Securities Exchange has seen a decline in IPOs and shallow public markets, creating greater interest among private investors in alternatives," the report said.

This, Preqin explained, has led to some advance regulations within local private markets.

"Managers should be aware that Australia's corporate regulator plans to establish a private markets valuation unit in the next 12 months, particularly in relation to valuation concerns."

Namely, speaking at an event in Sydney last month, the chairman of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Joe Longo, confirmed that the regulator has increased its scrutiny of the sector and created a special task force to do so.

"In terms of changes that could lead to additional regulation, the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive in Europe and the SEC's quarterly reporting requirements in the US are reference points that managers may need to consider," it added the report.

Commenting on the data, Rachel Dabora, research insights analyst at Preqin, said private investors acting as a potential new fundraising frontier for alternative fund managers continue to be a popular topic of discussion.

“Understanding how, who and where to engage with this capital pool, which is estimated to be around $100 trillion, is still being explored. It's a phenomenon that started with European wealth managers and family offices, the growing population of high net worth individuals in APAC and through established adviser networks in North America.

"Now is the time for managers to build these relationships in anticipation of the coming intergenerational wealth transfer, new technologies that will reduce transaction costs and growing interest in alternatives," Dabora said.