Royal London Private Equity has taken far longer than it expected to make an initial closing on its first fund at £64m (€92m), after tough market conditions slowed investor decision-making to a crawl.

The firm started fundraising last July. David MacLellan, chief executive of Royal London Private Equity, said: "We thought we would reach our first closing after six months. In fact it took nine months. It's been a dreadful time, with falling public markets, economic uncertainty and then war in Iraq. We're just relieved to have made it."