US-based buy-out firms such as JP Morgan Partners and Blackstone boosted the average European fund size last year to €1.23bn ($1.45bn), obscuring the fact that most investors are steering clear of multi-billion euro funds.

Figures from data provider Initiative Europe, including US funds with an allocation to Europe, suggest that average fund size has been gradually increasing, up 50% last year from the €824m raised in 2001. However, the figures for purely European funds show the average fund size is declining, weighing in at €650m in 2002, compared with €663m in 2001 and €441m in 2000.