Shelter from the Storms: Diversification and Opportunity for Pensions in Insurance-Linked Securities

The importance of portfolio diversification gained new currency following the down market of 2022, which showcased the frailties of the traditional 60/40 portfolio and left many investors scrambling for protection. For pension funds looking to meet this need, we believe insurance-linked securities (ILS) can be a good fit. While implementation and benchmarking are less straightforward […]

October 2023

Six Things to Know About Co-investments

Let’s Get Smarter as Co-investing Gets Harder Investor interest in co-investing has grown in recent years, given the benefits (discussed in more detail below) for both general partners (GPs) and limited partners (LPs). The co-investment universe has grown rapidly, with Cambridge Associates (CA) estimating total private equity co-investment activity in 2022 to have been ~$50 […]

September 2023

SEC Adopts Reforms Aimed at Enhancing Private Investment Transparency and Investor Protection

On August 23, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the most extensive reforms for the private investment industry since the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. The reforms include many noteworthy aspects that we, and the industry, are still reviewing closely. Below are a few key changes: Fee & Expense Transparency. The new rules require […]

August 2023

Credit Score: Why Bank Retrenchment Spells Opportunity for Pensions

A down year in public markets led to a severe slowdown in new debt issuance in 2022, resulting in increased pressure in the banking sector. During the first half of 2023, the collapse of three US regional banks—in addition to the collapse of Credit Suisse in Europe—led to a further slowdown in bank lending. In […]

August 2023

Private Direct Lending or Public BDCs? Guidance for Pension Plan Sponsors

Private credit has become a popular asset class among pension plan sponsors seeking yield enhancement over their public fixed income allocations. The non-bank finance market has flourished since the Global Financial Crisis due to a more restrictive bank regulatory environment, resulting in reduced bank lending activity, and a wide range of private credit opportunities are […]

July 2023

Streamlined Private Investing: Uncovering Growth in Secondaries

Over the past four decades, institutional investors have implemented newer and more dynamic strategies in their portfolios in an effort to boost investment returns. During the same period, many investors reduced allocations to fixed income while increasing allocations to equities and alternative investments, including private investments (PI), hedge funds, and commodities. Private equity (PE) investments […]

May 2023

Seven Things Investors Should Know About the Private Equity Secondary Market

Private equity (PE) secondary funds can provide several benefits to investors, including an accelerated pace of distributions relative to traditional primary PE fund investments. In addition, they can help investors enter new strategies, access top managers, and reduce blind pool risk. In this piece, we review secondary funds and their benefits by answering seven key […]

May 2023

Is This a New Era for Private Investments?

No. We argue that after macro conditions helped propel the private investment industry to temporary heights, today’s environment has ushered in a “back to normal” era. Let’s back up a bit. In the COVID-19 period (defined as July 2020 through June 2022), all facets of the US private investment “ecosystem” were in overdrive. During that […]

April 2023