Standard Life Investments (SLI) has announced it received strong support and interest from those investing despite the economic downturn.

According to SLI, the total amount of funds it raised during 2008 stand at €670 million (£532.5 million).

David Currie, the firm's chief executive, said it is pleasing to note the strong support from investors despite the difficult fund raising environment due to the credit crunch and steep declines across most asset classes.

The scale of investor commitments to ESP 2008 and segregated mandates over the last 12 months is evidence that clients share our confidence that Europe continues to offer attractive private equity investment opportunities, he added.

Since the credit crunch began last August, SLI has raised more than €1 billion and the total assets raised through private equity investments stands at €6.2 billion.

The firm claims to be one of the UK's leading fund managers dedicated to delivering excellent investment results.

It maintains it aims to deliver an exceptional performance and service that its investing clients expect.