Nasdaq Private Fund Solutions hosted a virtual event which featured several content sessions designed to help LPs and GPs navigate the complexities of today’s private markets. In the keynote panel of the event, Nasdaq’s head of Private Fund Solutions, Katey Bogue spoke with leading institutional investors from Desjardins Group and Nykredit Asset Management about ESG.

Digital infrastructure is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after strategies within real assets for public pension plans. Digital infrastructure funds invest in the critical assets that help power and support our increasingly data-driven and Internet-connected world. Funds invest in assets such as cell towers, fiber optics lines & network, and data centers.

The mercurial nature and uncertainty of the markets in 2020 left many industry observers wondering how public pension plan allocators would approach commitments to private markets funds in 2021. Crossing the midpoint of the year affords us the opportunity to pause and look back at how it has progressed in terms of private equity fundraising while also looking to the future to see what the rest of the year may hold for fundraising GPs.

After 2020, which saw London-based CVC Capital Partners take top spot for capital raised from US-based pension plans, data through the mid-year mark of 2021 from eVestment shows that interest in European fund managers and strategies remains robust.

As of 6/30/2021 the plans tracked by eVestment had reported 2021 commitments of over $10.3 billion to European strategies. Interest in the continent is spurred in part by pension plans seeking differentiated strategies from the crowded and frothy US market and more positive outlooks from consultants.

In June 2021 public pension plans reported $6.45 billion in commitments to private equity funds according to data tracked by Nasdaq eVestment. The total represents 111 commitments from 37 pension plans. June was the third highest month for commitments in 2021 trailing March ($10.8 billion) and April ($9.0 billion).