Global Investor 100: This year’s top 10

1. CPP Investments 

Private equity allocation: $134.8bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 34%
AUM: $395.7bn
HQ: Toronto

CPP Investments continues to sit at the top of the GI 100 ranking with a PE allocation of nearly $135 billion, representing 34 percent of its total portfolio. The pension, which invests both directly and with managers, invests nearly 60 percent of its PE assets in North America, followed by Europe at 24 percent, Asia-Pacific at 17 percent and Latin America at 1 percent. Investments are mainly in the technology sector, which account for 29 percent of the portfolio. Over the past five years, PE delivered a net return of 15.5 percent, per its latest annual report.
2022 RANK: 1

2. GIC Private Limited 

Private equity allocation: $126.5bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 17%
AUM: $744.0bn
HQ: Singapore

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund saw its private equity exposure climb 2 percentage points last year, reflecting a growing appetite for asset classes “that can provide returns that keep pace with elevated inflation”, according to its most recent annual report. Across GIC’s total portfolio, the US accounts for the lion’s share at 37 percent, followed by Asia (excluding Japan) at 25 percent. GIC, which is notoriously coy about its investment activity, committed to the Brookfield Global Transition Fund in the first half of 2023, according to Private Equity International data.
2022 RANK: 2

3. Temasek Holdings 

Private equity allocation: $125.4bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 42%
AUM: $300.7bn
HQ: Singapore

Owned by the Singapore government, Temasek Holdings is the most bullish of private equity’s 10 largest investors, with an allocation of 41.7 percent. Its investments include an increasingly strong focus on ESG and sustainability: the sovereign wealth fund plans to reduce the net carbon emissions of its portfolio to half the levels it saw in 2010 by 2030, and aims to reach net-zero portfolio emissions by 2050. Its recent commitments in the impact space include to the 2022-vintage Tropical Asia Forest Fund 2 and Lightrock Climate Impact Fund.
2022 RANK: 4

4. Mubadala Investment Company

Private equity allocation: $86.5bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 31%
AUM: $276.4bn
HQ: Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund’s PE investments reached $86.5 billion by the end of 2022, representing 31 percent of its overall portfolio. The $276 billion SWF invests across life sciences, consumer, financial services, business services, and energy and industrials. In February 2022, Mubadala partnered with Apollo Global Management for its Capital Solutions business, which originates and structures debt and equity financing for transactions across various asset classes. Mubadala’s asset management arm also inked a $2.1 billion partnership with French giant Ardian in 2022.
2022 RANK: N/A

5. Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Private equity allocation: $75.1bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 10%
AUM: $790.0bn
HQ: Abu Dhabi

ADIA has an allocation of $75 billion to PE, representing 9.5 percent of its total assets. The Gulf LP invests across primaries, secondaries and direct investments, with strategies including buyouts, growth equity and venture capital. Its largest commitments in the past year include $6 billion to Ardian – $4 billion to ASF IX, Ardian’s latest secondaries fund, and $2 billion for secondaries co-investments. The SWF was a cornerstone investor in Apollo Global Management’s Sponsor and Secondary Solutions business, which launched in August 2022. It has backed funds including those managed by EQT, Equistone Partners Europe and Energy Impact Partners.
2022 RANK: 6

6. APG Asset Management

Private equity allocation: $52.1bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 9%
AUM: $569.5bn
HQ: Amsterdam

With AUM of more than $569 billion as of the end of 2022, APG Asset Management is the Netherlands’ largest public pension fund. The group manages the assets of four wider pension funds: ABP, bpfBOUW, SPW and PPF APG. Last year, APG’s investment returns recorded a negative 18.2 percent, compared with 10.4 percent in 2021. Nonetheless, the asset manager continues to invest in its internal operations: APG has added 471 staff members since 2020, many of whom will be managing the pension’s transition from defined benefit to defined contribution.
2022 RANK: 5

7. California Public Employees’ Retirement System 

Private equity allocation: $50.3bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 11%
AUM: $442.2bn
HQ: Sacramento

The US’s largest public pension remains in eighth position on the GI 100 this year after making 31 commitments totalling $7.5 billion in H2 2022. According to a March 2023 investment committee meeting, this brought its annual total to $17 billion across 66 commitments, compared with $12.3 billion in 2021. In a September meeting, CalPERS chief investment officer Nicole Musicco noted the pension plan has “more room to do more with private equity since we were late to the game”.
2022 RANK: 8

9. Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Private equity allocation: $46.6bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 9%
AUM: $513.4bn
HQ: Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority manages four portfolios under its primary investment arm, the Exchange Fund of Hong Kong. Nearly $47 billion of private equity assets sit within its Long-Term Growth Portfolio, alongside real estate investments. With the majority in private equity, the LTGP has recorded an annualised internal rate of return of 12.6 percent since its inception in 2009, according to HKMA’s 2022 annual report. Despite being one of the most active and sophisticated institutional investors in Asia, HKMA holds a rather muted profile, mostly committing to large funds in North America and Western Europe.
2022 RANK: 7

10. California State Teachers’ Retirement System

Private equity allocation: $46.3bn
PE allocation as % of AUM: 15%
AUM: $302.1bn
HQ: Sacramento

The US’s second-largest public pension fund has been particularly active recently. CalSTRS revealed in March its $1.7 billion commitments across 17 funds, including $250 million each to HarbourVest Partners’ Lower Middle Market Fund VII, Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities IV and Ardian’s ASF IX. CIO Christopher Ailman said on a podcast in April that he remains a staunch believer in private equity as a “big alpha driver” for pension portfolios, despite the changing market climate. “Not everything in that industry is perfect or well done but… the ability to invest in a company and redeploy earnings into it becomes a powerful generator of returns over time.”
2022 RANK: 9