Gregory Roth
The highest-paid public official in many states is—not a big surprise—the college football or basketball coach. But not in Wisconsin. There, the top spot last year went to David Villa, the chief investment officer for the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, who earned $834,000 in total compensation, including a $421,000 bonus, according to Wisconsin’s Dept of Administration. Villa’s pay far exceeded that of Gov. Scott Walker, who earned $143,872.
After fundraising for two years, Siguler Guff & Company held a final close on its newest small-companies fund of funds, the Siguler Guff Small Buyout Opportunities Fund II LP, having raised $940 million, well above the fund’s original $600 million target.
One of the nation’s most experienced pension officials, Howard Bicker, the long-time chief investment officer and executive director of the Minnesota State Board of Investment, plans to retire after 32 years in the role, according to the board minutes of the pension’s last meeting. Since Bicker took on the role, the state’s main pension system has achieved returns in excess of 10 percent, the pension reported.
The $170 billion California State Teachers’ Retirement System, as part of a “subtle” shift to its long-term allocation targets, boosted the amount of money it plans to invest in private equity by 1 percentage point, to 13 percent of its overall portfolio, according to a news release. The increase translates to $1.7 billion.
Is the $261 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System due to make a wave of fresh commitments to sponsors? Our analysis of recent board documents from the country’s biggest pension fund suggests that it may be.
1. Congratulations on your new role as chief executive of HGGC, the firm formerly known as Huntsman Gay. Is the firm different from the one you co-founded in 2007 with Jon Huntsman Sr. and Robert Gay? No. It’s still the same, the same investment strategy. Over these last five years, when you look at the […]
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, which oversees $159 billion in assets, committed just under $350 million to a pair of Europe-based private equity funds in July, according to Eric Sumberg, spokesman for Thomas DiNapoli, the New York State Comptroller and sole fiduciary of the state’s biggest pension. The pension had $13.8 billion invested in private equity, about 8.6 percent of its assets, as of March 31. That is slightly below the pension’s 10 percent private equity target.
Commonfund Capital has closed its latest energy and natural resources fund of funds, Commonfund Capital Natural Resources Partners IX LP, raising $507 million, slightly more than the original $500 million target. Fund IX had been raising money for more than a year, according to Keith Luke, president of Commonfund Securities.
Born amid the hysteria of the 2008 financial crisis, Apollo Global Management’s seventh flagship fund combined good timing, aggressive bargain hunting and the avoidance of mistakes to land in the top quartile of its 2008-vintage peers, according to the Buyouts returns database.
HGGC, a prominent Palo Alto, California-based middle-market firm, has named Rich Lawson, a longtime managing partner and co-founder, as its new chief executive, the firm announced. The firm recently changed its name from Huntsman Gay Global Capital.