Suzanne Weinstock
The $153bn New York State Common Retirement Fund has marginally surpassed its 8 percent private equity target allocation while approaching its 6 percent target real estate allocation.
The $1.1bn university endowment has upped its allocation to private equity by 150 percent in an effort to diversify its holdings.
The Illinois State Universities Retirement System has chosen to pursue its long-term private equity target allocation through continued investment while other LPs are pulling back on the asset class in an effort to combat over-weighting.
Palo Alto, California-based Norwest Venture Partners has hired long-time technology executive Dror Nahumi to support the firm as it moves to deploy increased capital in Israeli technology.
Jay Light, former professor to Steve Schwarzman and a director of university endowment Harvard Management Company, has joined Blackstone’s board of directors. Separately, Blackstone has been named as an advisor in the $85bn bailout of AIG.
US presidential candidate John McCain has come under fire by the Service Employees International Union for his ties to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts founder Henry Kravis. However, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, it is McCain’s Democratic rival Barack Obama that is pulling in the most money from the private equity industry.
The ability of insurer AIG, which was today bailed out by the US government, to seek liquidity through the sale of its asset management arm will be slowed by US government ownership, by the scope of the firm’s operations, and because the firm manages AIG balance sheet capital as well as client funds.
MatlinPatterson co-founder Mark Patterson yesterday characterised today's economy as the most troubled since the period following the US stock market crash in 1929. Operational concerns are now second to broader financial markets considerations when conducting due diligence, he said.
Should the insurance giant seek liquidity through the sale of its $758bn asset management arm, insiders say it will likely be slowed by the US government's newly acquired controlling stake, as well as issues including the mixture of AIG balance sheet capital with client funds.
Roughly two years after acquiring Jil Sander from Prada, the European retail-focused private equity shop has exited to Italy’s GIBO, a subsidiary of Tokyo-listed Onward Holdings. While owned by Change Capital, Jil Sander's EBITDA grew from negative €13m to €6m.