Private Markets Monthly Monitor
Overview
In April 2022, 32 public pension plans reported a total of $7.5 billion in commitments to private equity funds, with an average commitment size of $79 million. A total of 101 commitments were reported in the month.
As of April 30, 2022, 84 public plans were under allocated against their private equity target allocations, representing $12.7 billion of potential commitments available for fund managers.
NEW: Forward Calendar Insights
According to Nasdaq eVestment’s Forward Calendar 545 private equity funds are confirmed or projected to be in the market fundraising for a first close in 2022. In total these funds are seeking to raise nearly $820 billion from investors. Buyout funds represent 65% of this total while venture capital funds and growth equity funds represent 13% and 11% respectively. Across all strategies there are 158 fund seeking fund sizes of $1 billion or more.
What does the future hold for private equity funds?
In addition to tracking past commitments and providing unique LP insights, the Nasdaq eVestment platform tracks investors’ asset allocation weightings and details on project and confirmed funds coming to market. Click the button below to request a fundraising intelligence pack.
The intel pack features a list of 5 under-allocated LPs and insights on GP competitors coming to market.
Top Funds & Activity
New York City Teachers was the most active allocator to private equity in terms of number of commitments reported in April with fourteen across ten different fund managers. The largest single commitment reported, $160 million, went to KKR North America Fund XIII which according to plan documents will target five core sector verticals: TMT, consumer, healthcare, industrials, and financial services. The pension plan also committed $160 million to Ares via Ares Corporate Opportunities VI and a related co-investment vehicle. In total New York City Teachers reported $1.1 billion of commitments in the month.
In terms of total dollars, Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) was the most active pension plan allocator with $2.2 billion in reported commitments. The plan’s largest reported commitment at $600 million went to Advent International GPE X, the ninth Advent fund that WSIB has committed to. WSIB also reported $450 million in commitments to Leonard Green & Partners and $400 million to Thoma Bravo. Each of WSIB’s nine reported commitments were recommended by their consultant Albourne.
WSIB was one of eight pension plans to report a commitment to Advent International GPE X in April. In total Advent International gathered $1.29 billion from these pension plan investors. Other notable commitments included $350 million from Massachusetts PRIM and $150 million from Los Angeles County ERA (LACERA).
Massachusetts PRIM’s Advent International commitment was one of ten that the pension plan reported in April. In total Massachusetts PRIM reported nearly $1.4 billion of allocations including $219 million to Nordic Capital Fund XI and $100 million to JMI Equity Fund XI.
Most Viewed Documents
In April the most read private equity document on Market Lens was an educational slide deck from Marquette Associates for the trustees of St. Louis ERS. The deck walks through the basics of key private equity strategy types, including fund-of-funds. One interesting point highlighted in the deck is the outperformance offered by small funds albeit at a high standard deviation. Marquette Associates notes, “high-quality diversification is beneficial at the lower end of the market requiring numerous fund commitments each vintage year (or the use of fund-of-funds) in order to improve the expected risk-adjusted return of a private equity program due to the significant performance dispersion.”
The most popular pacing plan in the month was that of Stanislaus County ERA, prepared by their consultant Verus. The pension plan is working towards reaching a 5% target allocation for private equity by 2024 via commitments to buyout and venture capital strategies. In 2022 Verus has recommended $20 million in commitments to buyout and $25 million to venture capital. In the vintages thereafter Stanislaus County ERA will decrease their annual venture capital allocations to just $5 million.
The pitch deck for TPG Rise Fund III was also widely viewed in April. The fund is part of TPG’s $13 billion Impact Platform along with TPG Rise Climate and Evercare. According to the deck, Rise Fund III will seek to, “deploy capital to companies whose products and services positively impact societal issues and needs.”
| Overview | April 2022 |
| # of Commitments | 101 |
| Total Amount (USD MM) | $7,946 |
| Average Amount (USD MM) | $79 |
| # of LPs | 32 |
| Most Active Public Plans By # Of Commitments | L3M |
| Wisconsin Investment Board | 22 |
| Minnesota State Board | 18 |
| NYS Common Retirement Fund | 16 |
| Most Active Public Plans By Commitment Amt. (USD MM) | L3M |
| CalPERS | $2,438 |
| Minnesota State Board | $2,203 |
| Washington State (WSIB) | $2,189 |
| Consultants Providing Most Recommendations | L3M |
| Hamilton Lane | 21 |
| Aksia | 14 |
| StepStone | 14 |
Overview
In April 2022, nineteen public pension plans reported a total of $1.9 billion in commitments to private debt funds, with an average commitment size of $80 million. A total of 23 commitments were reported in the month.
As of April 30, 2022, 60 public plans were under allocated against their private debt target allocations, representing $14.1 billion of potential commitments available for fund managers.
NEW: Forward Calendar Insights
According to Nasdaq eVestment’s Forward Calendar 81 private debt funds are confirmed or projected to be in the market fundraising in 2022. These funds are seeking to raise $144.5 billion from investors. Direct lending funds account for 40% of this total as 32 funds seek to raise $57.7 billion.
What does the future hold for private debt funds?
In addition to tracking past commitments and providing unique LP insights, the Nasdaq eVestment platform tracks investors’ asset allocation weightings and details on project and confirmed funds coming to market. Click the button below to request a fundraising intelligence pack.
The intel pack features a list of 5 under-allocated LPs and insights on GP competitors coming to market.
Top Funds & Activity
Texas County was the top pension plan allocator to private credit in April with $350 million committed across three fund managers. The largest allocation of the three ($150 million) went to OrbiMed Royalty & Credit Opportunities IV, a strategy focused on debt and intellectual property royalties in the healthcare space. The pension plan’s other two reported commitments, each $100 million, went to Atalaya Asset Income Fund Evergreen and Comvest Credit Partners VI.
Indiana Public Retirement System reported commitments of $150 million each to Apollo Origination Partnership and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund IV in April. Plan documents describe the Blackstone fund as a “special situations fund that will include pre-IPO companies, unique assets, and special credit opportunities,” while the Apollo fund’s strategy is described as seeking, “to lend to large corporate borrowers in North America and Western Europe on a senior secured basis.”
Colorado Fire & Police was the only other pension plan to report more than a single private debt commitment in the month with two small commitments to Blue Torch Capital ($20 million) and LongueVue Capital ($15 million).
The largest single private debt commitment reported was $300 million from New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) to Oak Hill Advisors Strategic Credit III. According to the recommendation memo for the commitment the fund will focus on, “distressed investments mainly in North America and Europe, and deploy trading, influence, and control strategies. These will feature flexibility across geographies, markets, and capital structure, and aim to capture opportunities under normal market conditions as well as during periods of wholesale dislocation.” The commitment is the second from NYSCRF to Oak Hill Advisors.
Most Viewed Documents
The most viewed private debt document in the month was an RFP from Oklahoma Teachers. The pension plan is seeking multi-strategy private debt fund managers, with a primary focus on direct lending, for a $400 – $600 million SMA or fund-of-one commitment. Aon, the pension plan’s consultant, will also be involved in the selection process. In terms of minimum requirements, Oklahoma Teachers is seeking firms with at least $10 billion in AUM and a seven-year track record in private debt. While most RFPs have a strict submission deadline this one will remain open until it is filled.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a presentation deck titled Private Debt Implementation Discussion prepared by Aon for Oklahoma Teachers was also widely viewed in April. In January 2022 the pension plan’s board approved a new 5% target allocation for private debt, and the presentation outlines how Oklahoma Teachers can take their private debt allocation from 0% to their new target in 2 – 5 years. Aon has recommended a 50/50 split between direct lending and opportunistic credit strategies and notes that they are, “finding attractive opportunities across distressed credit, bank capital relief and other alternative strategies.”
Also popular with Market Lens users in April was a slide deck for BlackRock Global Credit Opportunities Fund II which was presented to Wyoming SLIB. BlackRock is targeting a $4 billion fund size, doubling the size of its predecessor fund, which the deck states has delivered a 15.7% gross IRR and a 11.3% net IRR.
| Overview | April 2022 |
| # of Commitments | 23 |
| Total Amount (USD MM) | $1,850 |
| Average Amount (USD MM) | $80 |
| # of LPs | 19 |
| Most Active Public Plans By # Of Commitments | L3M |
| CalPERS | 8 |
| NYS Common Retirement Fund | 6 |
| Texas County | 6 |
| Most Active Public Plans By Commitment Amt. (USD MM) | L3M |
| CalPERS | $4,350 |
| NYS Common Retirement Fund | $2,650 |
| Virginia Retirement System | $890 |
| Consultants Providing Most Recommendations | L3M |
| Cambridge Associates | 3 |
| Captrust | 3 |
| Hamilton Lane | 3 |
| RVK | 3 |
Overview
In April 2022, 21 public pension plans reported a total of $3.9 billion in commitments to real estate funds, with an average commitment size of $110 million. A total of 35 commitments were reported in the month.
As of April 30, 2022, 164 public plans were under allocated against their real estate target allocations, representing $36.7 billion of potential commitments available for fund managers.
NEW: Forward Calendar Insights
According to Nasdaq eVestment’s Forward Calendar 101 real estate funds are confirmed or projected to be in the market fundraising. In total these funds are seeking to raise over $144.7 billion from investors. In terms of fund size, 47 of these funds are targeting fund sizes of $1 billion or more.
Which LPs will be making commitments to real estate funds?
In addition to tracking past commitments and providing unique LP insights, the Nasdaq eVestment platform tracks investors’ asset allocation weightings and details on project and confirmed funds coming to market. Click the button below to request a fundraising intelligence pack.
The intel pack features a list of 5 under-allocated LPs and insights on GP competitors coming to market.
Top Funds & Activity
With $1.33 billion in reported commitments, New York State Teachers was the most active pension plan allocator to real estate in the month. The largest allocation reported was $500 million to a US REIT strategy managed by Principal Real Estate Investors. Other commitments included €270 million to an opportunistic European strategy managed by Aermont Capital and $150 million to Cabot Properties and their core strategy focused on US industrial assets.
Cabot Properties was one of the top destinations for capital in April with Louisiana Teachers ($75 million) and Illinois SURS ($50 million) also reporting commitments to the fund manager. TA Realty was the only other real estate manager to see three commitments reported from pension plans in April. TA Realty Core Property Fund received two of these commitments and TA Realty Associates Fund XIII received the third.
New York City Teachers was also active with $669 million in reported commitments to five managers. The pension plan allocated $230 million to the LaSalle GPS Co-Investment Program targeting core and non-core investments in North America. Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners IV and Carlyle Realty Partners IX each received $150 million commitments from New York City Teachers. All three fund managers were existing relationships for the pension plan.
The single largest real estate commitment reported was $750 million from Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) to Partners Enterprise Capital. The allocation brings WSIB’s total commitments with Partners Enterprise Capital to $5.25 billion.
Most Viewed Documents
April’s most viewed real estate document was a portfolio review and pacing plan created by consultant Callan for their client Chicago Teachers. As of 12/31/2021, the pension plan was slightly under their 10% target allocation for real estate. After committing $435 million to 14 funds across nine fund managers in 2021, Chicago Teachers has opted to make a single $35 million commitment in 2022. Thereafter, Callan has recommended annual commitments of $70 million to non-core strategies through 2026. The plan notes that, “MWDBE managers will continue to factor prominently into the portfolio.”
Another widely viewed real estate document was the Real Estate Asset Class Review from Florida SBA which offers a detailed view of the large pension plan’s current portfolio and their investment focus for the asset class. According to the review, in 2021 Florida SBA allocated to twelve commingled funds with an average bitesize of $110 million. Additionally, the pension plan made $591 million in direct real estate investments. Their current investment focus is on industrial/cold storage, residential, medical office buildings, self-storage, life science, and retail/mixed use opportunities.
The pitch deck for the JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund was also a top document in the month. The fund, which follows a core real estate strategy, is part of JP Morgan’s $69 billion Americas real estate platform. As of 12/31/21 the fund’s largest sector allocation was industrial at 30.4%.
| Overview | April 2022 |
| # of Commitments | 35 |
| Total Amount (USD MM) | $3,867 |
| Average Amount (USD MM) | $110 |
| # of LPs | 21 |
| Most Active Public Plans By # Of Commitments | L3M |
| Wisconsin Investment Board | 8 |
| NYS Common Retirement Fund | 7 |
| Indiana Retirement System | 6 |
| NYC Teachers | 6 |
| Most Active Public Plans By Commitment Amt. (USD MM) | L3M |
| NYC Teachers | $1,335 |
| NYS Common Retirement Fund | $1,070 |
| Washington State (WSIB) | $750 |
| Consultants Providing Most Recommendations | L3M |
| StepStone | 17 |
| Townsend Group | 9 |
| Callan | 6 |
Overview
In April 2022, 21 public pension plans reported a total of $2.2 billion in commitments to real assets funds, with an average commitment size of $63 million. A total of 35 commitments were reported in the month.
As of April 30, 2022, 99 public plans were under allocated against their real assets target allocations, representing $34.0 billion of potential commitments available for fund managers.
NEW: Forward Calendar Insights
According to Nasdaq eVestment’s Forward Calendar 45 real assets funds are confirmed or projected to be in the market fundraising. In total these funds are seeking to raise $116.6 billion from investors with infrastructure funds represent a vast majority of this figure. Only eight energy funds are confirmed or projected to be in market in 2022.
Which LPs will be making commitments to real assets funds?
In addition to tracking past commitments and providing unique LP insights, the Nasdaq eVestment platform tracks investors’ asset allocation weightings and details on project and confirmed funds coming to market. Click the button below to request a fundraising intelligence pack.
The intel pack features a list of 5 under-allocated LPs and insights on GP competitors coming to market.
Top Funds & Activity
Indiana Public Retirement System reported two $150 million commitments to infrastructure funds in April: Ardian Americas V and InfraVia V. According to plan documents, InfraVia V will invest in “European mid-market infrastructure companies, including utilities, digital, energy transition, transportation, and social.”
Another notable commitment reported in the month was €200 million from New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) to Copenhagen Infrastructure IV Co-Invest. Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is an existing relationship for NYSCRF and the investment memo for the allocation notes that the vehicle will invest alongside the main fund “in a diversified portfolio of renewable infrastructure assets, predominantly in developed countries.”
The largest real assets allocation reported was $500 million follow-on commitment from Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) to Emerald Energy Venture which the investment memo describes as, “a joint venture between the WSIB and National Grid North America Inc., a U.S. arm of National Grid plc. Emerald’s strategy focuses primarily on renewable power generating and storage assets located in the U.S.”
Illinois SURS, Iowa Muni, and Wales Pension Partnership each reported commitments to IFM Investors Pty Ltd making it one of the most popular real assets managers in the month.
Most Viewed Documents
The Non-Core Infrastructure RFP Respondent Review prepared by Meketa for their client Plymouth County Retirement Association was the most viewed real assets document in April. The review offers an in-depth view of how Meketa rated real assets funds across six criteria: overall, organization, team, investment strategy & process, performance, and fees. For fund managers seeking a commitment from an institutional investor advised by Meketa, the review is a blueprint for success. Meketa notes that the highest rated firm, Climate Adaptive Infrastructure, “is comprised of a team of highly experienced infrastructure professionals from across the industry that have all worked together previously and created a meaningful track record within the climate infrastructure space.”
Also popular was the 2022 Real Assets Pacing Plan from NEPC for their client San Antonio Fire & Police Pension Fund. The plan offers a detailed look by NEPC into several key real assets strategies including digital infrastructure, energy transition, and traditional energy. As of September 30, 2021, San Antonio Fire & Police has a 3.6% allocation to real assets against a target of 5%. Over the next five years NEPC has recommended that the pension plan commit $25 million annually to the asset class to reach their target allocation.
A slide deck for Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V was also widely read by Market Lens users in the month. The deck was presented to Louisiana State ERS who has invested $235 million with Brookfield across three previous funds including Brookfield Infrastructure Fund IV.
| Overview | April 2022 |
| # of Commitments | 35 |
| Total Amount (USD MM) | $2,192 |
| Average Amount (USD MM) | $63 |
| # of LPs | 21 |
| Most Active Public Plans By # Of Commitments | L3M |
| Indiana Public Retirement System | 5 |
| Oregon PERS | 5 |
| (Seven plans tied) | 4 |
| Most Active Public Plans By Commitment Amt. (USD MM) | L3M |
| Indiana Public Retirement System | $3,200 |
| Oregon PERS | $650 |
| Teesside | $589 |
| Consultants Providing Most Recommendations | L3M |
| StepStone | 16 |
| bfinance | 4 |
| Hamilton Lane | 4 |
Intelligent Fundraising
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Data included in this report is sourced exclusively through information available in our Market Lens tool, a one-stop platform offering access to underlying documents and information from public plans and their consultants, including investor profiles, asset allocation studies, commitment pacing plans, peers’ pitchbooks and much more.
Clients use this information for up to the minute insights into market trends, and to better identify prospective investors and access more granular information to tailor pitches and presentations to accelerate their fundraising and enhance investor relations.
