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LACERA, Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association has voted to decrease the allocation to venture. "The board of investments voted to decrease its allocation range to venture capital and growth equity from between 15% and 30% of the pension system’s private equity portfolio, to between 5% and 25%. LACERA’s venture portfolio is currently 10.8% of the PE portfolio." https://lnkd.in/eijx2Mhi #endowments #pensionfunds #venturecapital #investing

Venture Capital News - Venture Capital News Headlines

Venture Capital News - Venture Capital News Headlines

Venture Capital News - Venture Capital News Headlines

Venture Capital News - Venture Capital News Headlines

💵 Over the past decade, the world’s most renowned pensions, endowments, and fund allocators lined up with their checkbooks to get a slice of VC returns. ⬇️ 📈 With more demand for venture exposure, larger fund sizes have naturally followed. Driven by the rise of mega-funds and sizable step-ups across subsequent funds, the average US venture fund size climbed from $84 million in 2013 to $154 million by Q4 2023. 🏷️ The resulting abundance of capital competing for high-quality deals has inflated valuations across stages. Today, VCs are forced to write much larger checks than they did ten years ago for equivalent equity and ownership. Naturally, this escalation has driven up financing round sizes, with later stages particularly experiencing significant increases. 🧮 Fund size inherently molds every facet of a venture firm’s strategy. Therefore, the upward trend in venture fund sizes over the past decade calls into question how the strategy of these funds may need to shift in tandem. Larger funds fundamentally recalibrate the venture return calculus — bigger funds need bigger outcomes. By taking on meaningfully more capital, VCs ratchet up the imperative for sourcing companies whose future value can deliver nothing short of a home run. 💡 While this longer term trend is well documented, the current environment for venture capitalists presents new fundraising challenges. Mega funds have raised new capital for vehicles much smaller than prior fund size peaks and LPs have become more cautious in both commitment size and pacing. Continue reading more on this topic to see the trend’s evolution and contrast with today’s challenging macroenvironment ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eZUDQtH3

Did you know that venture capital has been a part of San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS)’ investment strategy since the 90s? 📊 This Wednesday, my good friend and Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management classmate (Go Buckets) Edward Comerford, CFA joins us on Swimming with Allocators to discuss the evolving role of venture capital in pension portfolios. We'll dive into how consistent investment strategies can manage the challenges of market fluctuations and ensure long-term growth. Tune in to gain insights from a pension plan investment management leader and hear from Nik Talreja of Sydecar about the changing world of SPVs in this week's expert segment. #VentureCapital #PensionPlans #InvestmentStrategy cc: Alexa Binns OpenLP

Is venture capital too risky for pension funds? Wiltshire Pension Fund and Environment Agency Pension Fund don't seem to think so, as they have both allocated to the €300 million World Fund, which invests in startups that create value through decarbonisation technologies. The fund is pan-European, but it includes UK companies, such as Treecard, a consumer app that supports sustainable lifestyles and uses sponsorship revenue to plant trees; Mission Zero Technologies, which provides a direct air capture solution powered by renewable energy; Space Forge, which will use space's low-gravity, vacuum conditions to manufacture cutting-edge semiconductors that use 75% less energy; and ENOUGH, which has developed a sustainable protein source for meat alternatives. Wiltshire Pension Fund uses BlackRock's "SALAMI" (Strategic Allocation to Liquid Asset Matching Investments) strategy to ensure that liquidity is available for capital calls, while maintaining the portfolio's target asset allocation (i.e. avoiding cash drag). Really encouraging to see UK pension funds investing in enterprises actively creating climate solutions as an integral part of their Net Zero strategies. #impactinvesting #netzero #cleanenergy #energytransition #pensions #lgps Aysha Gilmore Danijel Višević Jennifer Devine Becky LeAnstey https://lnkd.in/exx6b7ce

Three VC investors with Cambridge operations – Amadeus Capital Partners, Cambridge Innovation Capital and IQ Capital – are among 20 of the UK’s leading Venture Capital and Growth Equity firms fighting to unlock British pension investment in high growth companies through a unique initiative. https://lnkd.in/dzMF7-rF The trio help provide the backbone to the new Venture Capital Investment Compact engineered by the British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (BVCA). The Compact commits signatories to working closely with the pension funds which were enlisted in the Government’s Mansion House agreement. Earlier this summer, the City of London Corporation coordinated the Mansion House agreement, committing nine of the UK’s largest pension funds to the objective of allocating at least five per cent of their default funds to unlisted equities by 2030. The new Venture Capital Investment Compact builds on that agreement and will help to unlock over £50bn of new capital by the end of the decade. BVCA chief executive Michael Moore, said: “Many overseas investors have jumped at the chance to invest in – and benefit from – the performance of innovative UK firms. UK savers must have access to the same opportunity. “We want to seize this opportunity for British pension savers to benefit from returns garnered from VC innovation in the UK, while helping businesses to grow, succeed and create jobs.” Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner of Cambridge Innovation Capital and Chair of the BVCA’s Venture Capital Committee added: “The Compact demonstrates that the VC industry is committed to partnering with pension schemes to help them address the barriers they face when allocating to this asset class, in order to allow savers to benefit from the higher potential net returns that can arise from investment in unlisted equity such as private capital funds as part of a diversified portfolio.” Life sciences and DeepTech companies could benefit hugely from the new initiative. Steve Bates OBE FMedSci, CEO of the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA) said: “Nearly two-thirds of pension savers recently surveyed said they want to know where their money is being invested. “The detail matters – people need to know if their money is being invested in another online betting app or a company from Cambridge that is trying to understand why some people survive cancer whilst others die, with the aim of developing therapies that will allow us all to survive. “Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd in Cambridge and many other companies recently identified by global consultants PwC as the most innovative and groundbreaking life science companies operating in the UK right now, have the potential to transform patient care in the NHS and become global success stories, delivering the return on investment that pension savers need for their retirement. “The Compact is a critical step to unlock new capital to accelerate their growth and to realise those ambitions.”

A Northeast pension fund strategically diversifies, approving a venture capital commitment with a new manager, signaling confidence in high-growth opportunities. #VentureCapital #InvestmentTrends #PensionFundDiversification