Jennifer Harris

Fortress reported a loss of $38 million for the third quarter, though it managed to avoid subprime-related losses, raised revenue by 80 percent and grew private equity assets under management by 60 percent.

China’s vice minister of finance reportedly said the state’s new $200 billion sovereign wealth fund will be transparent in its actions, and will not aggressively seek to acquire foreign oil companies, nor invest in airlines or telecom firms.

The Carlyle Group has hired Ellen Gonda, formerly a financial communications director at PR firm Brunswick Group, to lead its public relations efforts in North and South America. It is part of a larger expansion that will double the size of Carlyle’s global communications department.

The Princeton University endowment returned 24.7 percent for the fiscal year 2006-2007, increasing its assets from $13 billion to $15.8 billion. The US endowment allocates 15 percent of its portfolio to private equity funds.

As the chair of the Institutional Limited Partners Association, CalPERS’ Joncarlo Mark will focus on growing the organisation’s research and education platforms.

Frontier Capital has brought in institutional investors for its second fund, which at $115 million is more than twice the size of the firm’s first vehicle.

The alternatives-focussed Yale University endowment returned 28 percent this year, up 5.1 percent percent from 2005. The endowment is now valued at $22.5 billion, up 25 percent from 2005.

The Essex Regional Massachusetts Retirement Board wants to begin investing in private equity, and is seeking an advisor for an $8 million fund of funds programme.

Harvard University's endowment is left without a head, as Mohamed El-Erian has left the $35 billion endowment for a senior role at PIMCO, where he'll lead a push into alternatives.

The US' largest pension fund purchased a $600 million, 8.6 percent stake in Apollo, prior to the private equity firm's listing on Goldman Sachs' private exchange.