Private investment firm AE Industrial Partners has closed its second aerospace leasing fund, AE Industrials Partners Aerospace Leasing Fund II closed oversubscribed with capital commitments of $418 million. The firm said the oversubscription reflected “strong support from both existing and new investors”.
Commitments came from a mix of institutional investors, including public and private pensions, family offices, and endowments.
“This enthusiastic response underscores our team's deep experience, track record, and global network,” said AE Industrial co-CEO and managing partner David Rowe. “It also demonstrates that investors are looking for longer-term opportunities with strong underlying assets that can insulate them from market volatility while providing more predictable returns.”
AE Industrial partner and head of aerospace leasing Nathan Dickstein commented in a statement: “A convergence of industry tailwinds, including production bottlenecks, and airlines becoming more focused on utility and reliability, have continued to drive strong demand for commercial leased aerospace assets. This, coupled with the robust global growth for specialised or modified aircraft, creates unique well-structured investment opportunities.”
AE Industrial established its aerospace leasing platform in 2020. As of the fund’s closing on May 13, 2025, Aerospace Leasing Fund II had committed over 35% of its capital to acquire a fleet of 20 assets.
In an interview with Dickstein on June 12, 2025, he told Airline Economics that this had climbed to 22 assets since the fund’s close.
The aircraft all are narrowbodies on lease – predominantly based in North America and Western Europe. The types mostly include 737s and A320s, though Dickstein said that his team has done a couple of deals with Textron products such as its King Air aircraft – a small nine-seat turboprop – leased out to governments for special mission operations. The Fund comprises around 70% commercial aircraft and engines, while the other 30% will be reserved for a mix of business and special mission modified aircraft.
AE Industrial is looking to purchase 12 to 15 aircraft per year. However, if the opportunity presents itself, Dickstein said the firm is open to purchasing more. With nine assets acquired already halfway into 2025, the Fund is ahead of schedule.
The firm’s strategy is to maintain these modest yet high returning ambitions.
“It’s not our dream to be managing several hundred aircraft in five years,” said Dickstein. “We’ll rinse and repeat with a ‘picking of deals we like’ strategy.”
The firm said that with the close of the fund, it is broadening its leasing strategy and, “seeking attractive risk-adjusted returned designed to produce current income and capital appreciation for investors”.
Dickstein said that with it being a smaller fund, the firm is being a bit more opportunistic in its approach. “We’re not just going out and buying huge portfolios of aircraft,” he explained. “We’re picking deals that specifically appeal to us, which allows us to find interesting opportunities.”
He noted when the aircraft leases end, the airframes are sold for teardown. “If there’s life left in the engines, we’ll lease those out,” he explained. “We’re starting to become an engine lessor in a way as our investments age.”
Dickstein clarified that he doesn’t see AE Industrial moving into full scale engine procurement and leasing with its smaller team. “I don’t see us buying a lot of engines naked without a lease to place,” he said. “We have bought a few engines, but a strategy already in place – we already had a lessee. Once we buy the engine, we want to immediately deliver it to the lessee.”
He added that the firm is “super optimistic” for the remainder of the year. “The opportunity set is quite large, and as more and more lessors and people come into the fray, it increases secondary trading, which is where we source most of our assets.
“We’re seeing a lot of volume of opportunities, but we will always be picky on what we actually execute on for our fund size.”
Despite ongoing economic uncertainties in the market arising from tariffs and other geopolitical concerns, the firm’s strategy has largely insulated them from any impact. However, Dickstein said the softening US demand was something the team at AE Industrial Partners is “certainly watching”.
In addition, with the supply chain constraints post-COVID, the pricing of mid- to end-of-life assets has increased over the past few years. However, this supply chain constraint uncertainty also insulates the firm against uncertainty surrounding demand weakness.
While these challenges are being presented across the aviation industry, Dickstein said the firm will continue to deploy its strategy of opportunistically investing in assets to secure higher returns in its “very much investor focussed product”.