Buyouts and venture capital investments are important drivers in the creation of new high net worth individuals over time, so the buoyant figures ought to be positive news for wealth managers in Asia.

Private equity buyout investments in the Asia-Pacific region hit a record of $105.6 billion last year, surging by 61.2 per cent from a year before, with Australia making the largest splash in terms of value, according to figures from market data business Refinitiv.

Buyouts, which can be important liquidity events that wealth managers track, have continued at a time when private market investing has been encouraged by a period of ultra-low interest rates and a thirst for yield.

The figures showed that there were 647 transactions last year, rising by 83.8 per cent to the figures for 2020.

Australia took the lead with $33.6 billion in value, a 241.4 per cent rise. China followed with $24.0 billion in value, up 298.8 per cent from a year ago. India was third with $16.2 billion and 176 deals for full year 2021 – a 93.4 per cent rise. 

The computer software and services sector was the standout area, with deal values totalling $12.6 billion from 105 transactions up by a 228.1 per cent increase in value and up by 84.2 per cent in volume compared with the same period in 2020.

Asia-Pacific venture capital activity totalled $152.2 billion across 6,272 transactions in the full year of 2021. This marked a 106.9 per cent increase in values and 69.1 per cent increase in the volume of deals from a year earlier.