Coller Capital has reached the first close of its maiden RMB secondaries fund, with a target size of 1.5 billion yuan ($218 million), according to a company announcement on Thursday.

The fund – Coller Capital Secondaries RMB I Fund – did not disclose the size of its first close.

The fund is the first RMB secondaries fund in China raised by a global private capital secondaries manager with support from local institutional investors, per the statement. It is the first of its kind that has been filed with China’s self-regulatory association of fund management companies.

The fund will focus on providing liquidity solutions for investors and general partners in the RMB-denominated private capital market in China. 

Investors are spotting big promise in the secondaries market in Asia. However, the gap between demand and supply is widening as there are many sellers but few buyers in the Asian secondaries market.

Coller Capital isn’t the only Western private market leader looking to tap into Asia’s, specifically China’s, secondaries market. Private equity giant Hamilton Lane announced in February that it would be opening a new office in Shanghai to target RMB secondaries and raise its stakes in the APAC region.

London-headquartered Coller Capital is one of the world’s leading investors in the secondary market for private assets. It provides liquidity solutions to investors globally, acquiring interests in private equity, private credit, and other private market assets. 

Last month, Coller Capital set up its Private Wealth Secondaries Solutions business for wealth managers and investment advisers who counsel high-net-worth individuals to gain further access to private capital markets. 

In February last year, the firm closed its first credit secondaries fund with $1.45 billion of committed capital from over 30 institutional investors.