UK mid-market private equity firm Blue Water Energy defied the weak maiden fund market when it closed its first fund at $861 million. Consultants and placement agents say first-time funds have been facing an uphill battle as investors pare down the number of relationships in their portfolios and focus increasingly on mitigating perceived portfolio risk.

Warren Hibbert, co-founder and managing partner of placement agent Asante Capital, which helped raise Blue Water's fund, said: "There's the old cliché that no one has ever been fired for re-upping with Blackstone [Group]. So why put your neck on the line to back a first-time fund?"