Water Street Will Not Take Illinois Money if Kirkpatrick Wins
Yesterday we wrote about Kip Kirkpatrick, a co-founder of Water Street Healthcare Partners who recently announced candidacy for Illinois State Treasurer. In it, we noted that the local private equity community has rallied around Kip’s candidacy, including more than $35,000 in campaign contributions from his former Water Street colleagues. Other contributors include execs from firms like GTCR, One Equity Partners and Willis Stein. All of this made us wonder if these contributors were shooting themselves in the foot? Not because of Kip’s politics or potential job performance, but rather because he is basically running to become the state’s chief investment officer. If he wins, and if the SEC enacts those “pay-to-play” proposals regarding political contributions, then firms like Water Street and GTCR would be temporarily banned from raising money from public pension systems in Illinois… Are the contributions worth the risk?
