US public pension plans announced 121 new commitments to private equity in the fourth quarter, according to the latest data from eVestment.
This is down from the 124 private equity commitments US public pensions announced in Q3, but still enough for private equity to be by far the No1 asset class these plans committed to in Q4.
Real assets came in at No2, with 76 new commitments in Q4, followed by private debt at No3 with 47 commitments. Private equity was also the No1 choice for new US public pension plans commitments tracked by eVestment in Q3 and Q1 2017 (the first quarter eVestment began tracking this data). In Q2 2017, real assets were the No1 asset class for new public pension plan commitments.
“It’s been interesting to watch the growing appetite public pension plans have for private equity investments in 2017, and to see the spread widen between private equity and other asset classes as much as it did in Q4,” says Graeme Faulds, eVestment’s Director of Private Markets solutions. “Public pension plans have large pools of investable assets. And, because of their public nature, they also have higher disclosure and fiduciary responsibilities to their stakeholders than many private equity and private markets investors. Investment managers hoping to win these commitments have to be willing to accept this greater transparency, and it appears an increasing number of them are.”
