With the 2008-2009 recession slowly receding, Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board stepped up its venture investing and hasn’t looked back. The money manager maintained a generally stronger annual buying pace from 2010 through 2014 after several years of slower investing, according to data supplied to VCJ for the period. The focus has been smaller […]
Venture returns began ticking up almost a decade ago when IRRs almost doubled from a year earlier. The year of this turnabout was 2007 and the pooled IRR for the vintage grew to 16.82 percent as of this year’s second quarter, according to Cambridge Associates. If you need a reminder of what these vintages brought […]
Returns at mid-decade venture funds showed surprising stability last year even as valuations compressed and stock markets adjusted, if a Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board portfolio is a guide. Returns at the nearly two dozen funds that MassPRIM holds with vintages of 2003 to 2006 shifted only slightly in most cases, with about 60 […]
Dan Townsend, managing director at Top Tier Capital Partners, has left the firm, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Townsend is no longer listed on Top Tier’s website. An email to his Top Tier address produced a bounce-back saying he is no longer with the firm. David York, chief executive and managing director, […]
The San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System continued to aggressively expand its venture portfolio over the past couple of years as unicorn valuations skyrocketed and money poured into the asset class. The pension manager signed up with 21 funds from the 2014 and 2015 vintage years favoring many top name firms, according to a recent performance […]
Funds from OrbiMed Advisors, Canaan Partners and DCM Ventures lead a portfolio of early-decade venture investments at the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. All were able to post returns multiples of 2x or better after just several years of deploying capital, according to a performance report updated through December 2015. The funds are among 15 […]
What if limited partners welcomed change as fearlessly as other players in the entrepreneurial community? What if we threw out any of the old norms that could hold an LP back and instead started fresh to create a new (and better) investment vehicle optimized for what venture managers value most? What does it look like […]
Defining what it means to be limited-partner-friendly in today’s venture capital and private equity market goes beyond formal legal and economic terms. Rather, it’s a mindset that should drive and inform all activities across a fund. VCs love waking up every day to work with founders and to help build amazing companies. But behind this is […]
A portfolio of more than a dozen late-decade funds continues to show solid performance for San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, with standout results from Menlo Ventures, Polaris Venture Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures. The returns have felt the pressures of a more cautious venture market. Many pulled back during the 12 months ended in December. […]
California State Teachers’ Retirement System recently reviewed five of its general partners and found them “substantially compliant” with the terms set in their fund contracts. CalSTRS finished its review in June, a memo shows. The staff’s findings will be discussed at the retirement system’s Sept. 14 investment-committee meeting. “The results of the report provided reputable evidence […]