Despite the stronger performance by BRIC and Asia-Pacific economies than in many Western counterparts, many private equity professionals in the former regions say fund-raising conditions have proven to be tough, according to a new survey by Grant Thornton.

In its Global Private Equity Report 2012, the professional services firm said that more than 50 per cent of respondents to its survey in the BRIC and Asia-Pacific region say the fundraising environment is “very negative”, and nearly a third of them say it is “negative”. What is even more striking is that private equity firms in the BRIC economies show the steepest decline in their assessment of fund-raising conditions.

North America and the Middle East and North Africa regions contain some positive views about fundraising conditions, said the report, which is based on 143 interviews carried out between July and September this year with executives at private equity firms. The survey found that in the MENA and North America regions, around 20 per cent of respondents were positive – still a decline from the views given in 2011.

“The fundraising environment is evolving and there remains a considerable amount of apprehension in the PE industry as to what the final outcome will be for their firm,” the report said.

Among other findings, 45 per cent of respondents predicted their next fund to be larger than its predecessor; sentiment is slightly less bullish than in 2011, however, when 56 per cent expected to raise a larger fund than before, the survey said.