Investor Commitments

The customised accounts represented 8% of its overall PE portfolio, which now sits at $26bn.

These would-be private equity investors have yet to commit wholeheartedly to the asset class, but if they did the impact would be significant.

Brian Hughes, who heads the $180bn pension fund’s private equity team, on the value of diversification in the face of global macro headwinds.

The firm has received a new commitment from the New Mexico State Investment Council.

Stephen Blyth had sought to improve returns at the fund, which invested about one-sixth of its portfolio in private equity as of September 2015.

Data from Boston-based investment advisor Cambridge Associates shows first- and second-time funds have often outperformed established funds.

Mexican pension funds can only invest in domestic private equity funds under current regulations, but Felipe Vilá Gonzalez, chief executive of Mexico’s fund of funds group Fondo de Fondos, says LPs are keen to diversify abroad.

Despite lacklustre economic growth, Blackstone’s chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman is confident that the alternative asset giant’s private equity investments can continue to deliver robust returns.

The buyout firm, which invests in food and beverage companies, has also closed on its first debt vehicle, which will provide a source of subordinated debt for its fourth fund.

Following a sluggish first quarter, private debt fundraisers enjoyed a far more fruitful period from April to the end of June.