Four of New York City’s five public employee pension funds, catering for teachers, police officers, firefighters and civil servants, are to up their allocations to private equity and other illiquid asset classes, as they look to boost investment returns, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Blackstone’s first ever private equity fund aimed at wealthy individuals – private investors with more than $5m to invest – has raised $1.3bn despite a delayed launch, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Leavitt Equity Partners, a value-add healthcare focused private equity firm, has closed its third fund, Leavitt Equity Partners III, with over $180m in capital commitments ahead of its initial $150m target.

Banner Ridge Partners, a $7.3bn multi-strategy private equity investment firm, has completed fundraising for Banner Ridge Secondary Fund V, which closed at its hard cap with $2.15bn of total commitments.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management has raised $650m for a new fund – West Street Life Sciences I – that will make investments in startups related to the life sciences sector, according to a report by Reuters.

Forward Consumer Partners, a private equity firm that focusses on investments in branded consumer businesses, has held the final close of its oversubscribed debut fund, Forward Fund I (Fund I), at its hard cap of $425m.

Edinburgh-based investment syndicate, Archangels, invested more than £13.8m during 2023 in eleven of Scotland’s early-stage tech and life science companies.