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FUNDRAISING NEWS | September 10, 2025
Tags: Dakota Marketplace
Investors in August prioritized durable yield and scaled innovation, with over $2.7B committed to private real estate and $8.3B raised by OpenAI alone. The August 2025 Dakota Monthly Roundup tracks allocator moves across real estate, private credit, and venture capital; highlighting how institutions are positioning for late-cycle stability and long-term growth.
Download the full report to see where capital is moving, and why.
Milwaukee ERS Pauses New PE Commitments for ‘26 Amid De-Risking Shift
The City of Milwaukee Employees’ Retirement System (CMERS) has approved a pause on new private equity commitments in 2026 as part of a broader de-risking strategy that will gradually reduce the fund’s private equity allocation to 4% by 2035.
The decision was presented and approved during the September 4 investment committee meeting, where consultant Callan detailed the latest pacing analysis and long-term projections.
“Because the target will be dropping so significantly, you only need kind of minimal new commitments to maintain that exposure,” Callan’s Ashley Tan told the committee. “Instead of annual commitments, which you’ve done in the past, we recommend committing every few years… aggregating that commitment into a larger individual commitment size.”
The pacing plan, designed to align with CMERS’ glide path toward a lower-risk asset mix, calls for no commitments in 2026, followed by $35M in 2027 and $30M in 2030. The 2026 decision marks the first time in over a decade that the fund will refrain from new PE allocations.
“This is the official decision to… not just [a] decision to take the year off from committing new money to private equity,” a trustee stated during the approval of the recommendation. “Doing nothing is approved.”
Tan emphasized that the PE program remains healthy, mature, and well-diversified. As of the meeting date, CMERS had a private equity NAV of $786M, comprising 13.5% of plan assets - well above the new 11% target but within the permissible 8% to 16% range. The portfolio has committed nearly $1.3B to the asset class since inception and returned over $800M in distributions.
Neuberger Berman, the system’s secondaries manager, received a new commitment, approved earlier in the same meeting, into its Secondary Opportunities Fund VI LP. A sideletter negotiated by CMERS’s legal counsel was discussed and approved in closed session.
While the fund is scaling back, it retains over $400M in unfunded commitments. “We have the luxury of taking a year off,” noted a staff member. “We’re still investing in private equity… it’s just that we’re not going to be growing that in 2026.”
Callan’s long-range modeling assumes significant annual net positive cash flows from private equity – estimated at $100M per year – as distributions begin to outpace capital calls under the new glide path.
CMERS also approved converting its contract with Callan into an evergreen agreement. “It no longer has…an arbitrary or fixed term of three years, five years,” staff explained. The agreement includes provisions for annual performance reviews and biennial on-site visits.
In a separate educational session, trustees received a blockchain and crypto asset workshop from Callan. One trustee advocated for deeper exploration of bitcoin ETFs, calling bitcoin “the best place you can put your money as a savings vehicle.” While no action was taken, trustees indicated a willingness to continue learning about the space.
Goldman Wins $40B Shell Pension Mandate
Goldman Sachs’ asset management arm has reportedly secured a mandate to manage $40B of pension assets for energy company Shell, including running some of the pension’s assets in Europe and providing advisory services to its retirement plans in North America. With the latest addition, $450B of Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s $3T in managed assets are now attributable to its OCIO business. Source
Texas TRS Makes $1B+ in New Commitments to PE, VC, Real Assets
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas disclosed over $1B in new commitments across private equity, venture capital, and real assets in recently published materials from its latest board meeting. The pension’s largest commitment was $250M to core real estate fund Mustang MHC Properties, followed by $170M to TPG Partners X and $150M each to CC7 Co-Invest I and XN Opportunities VII. Source
MENA Sovereign Wealth Fund Secures Jadwa for $1B Reallocation
MENA sovereign investor The Arab Investment Co. has reportedly appointed Saudi Arabia’s Jadwa Investment to move approximately $1B of assets into new investment vehicles focused on private markets, public equities, and venture capital. Source
Taunton (MA) CRS Seeks Farmland Manager for $22M Mandate
Boston metro pension Taunton Contributory Retirement System has kicked off a search for a farmland manager to oversee a mandate of approximately $22M. Only open-ended products will be considered in the search, which is being assisted by consultant Dahab Associates on a submission deadline of October 3. Source
Mid-Atlantic Pension Wants Private Infra Manager for $5M Mandate
Dahab Associates is running a search for an unnamed Taft-Hartley pension plan seeking a private infrastructure manager to run an allocation of approximately $5M. The Mid-Atlantic-based pension oversees approximately $104M in total plan assets, and the search has a deadline of October 10. Source
ADIC Taps Former Bregal CEO to Lead Private Equity
The Abu Dhabi Investment Council announced the appointment of Alain Carrier as executive director of private equity, where he will lead the sovereign wealth fund’s private equity team as it seeks to expand its global presence. Carrier most recently served as CEO of Bregal Investments and before that spent nearly 14 years heading up international investments for Canadian pension CPP Investments. He began his career at Sullivan & Cromwell in 1993 before going on to spend more than a decade at Goldman Sachs. Source
Ares Insurance Solutions Recruits CIO from Global Atlantic
Ares Management’s Ares Insurance Solutions named Anup Agarwal as CIO, where he will lead investing activities for $23B life insurance and annuity company Aspida Holdings and be responsible for expanding investment solutions for third-party insurance clients. Agarwal joins from Global Atlantic Financial Group, where he was responsible for managing a $200B+ insurance platform and growing its investment capabilities in origination, structuring, execution, and management across all asset classes. Source
Texas ERS Names MD for Real Assets
The Employees Retirement System of Texas selected longtime staffer Amy Cureton as its next managing director of real assets, replacing Bob Sessa, who retired at the end of August. Cureton most recently served as director of private real estate for the pension and spent more than a decade leading the Texas ERS private real estate emerging manager program. Source
BCI names PE MD for Healthcare
British Columbia Investment Management appointed Nikhil Hanmantgad as a managing director for its private equity program, where he will be responsible for identifying and executing new investments in its global healthcare portfolio and leading value creation opportunities across the overall healthcare portfolio. Hanmantgad brings two decades of healthcare investing experience to the new role and moves from $330B UAE sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, where he was a senior principal in private equity and helped lead the US healthcare team. Source
Illinois TRS Appoints Senior PE Investment Officer
The Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois appointed Diana Ortiz Ochoa as a senior investment officer, working out of the pension’s Chicago office and focusing on private equity investments. Ortiz Ochoa most recently served as a director in private equity for Boeing’s corporate pension fund. Source
Florida SBA Reviews Portfolios, Plans $5.25B to Private Credit in ‘26
The Florida State Board of Administration is reviewing its global equity, private equity, and private credit portfolios at its latest meeting, according to newly published meeting materials. In private credit, the pension plans to commit $5.25B in 2026, followed by $1.5B each year after that, through 2034. In private equity, the pension disclosed making $1.1B in commitments across 12 funds and 12 co-investments through July, with the vast majority going to buyouts ($520M) and US investments (84%). Source
Rothesay Completes £105M Mativ Holdings Pension Buy-in
UK pension insurance specialist Rothesay completed a £105M ($142.1M) full scheme buy-in for two separate pension schemes sponsored by global specialty materials company Mativ Holdings. Mercer acted as lead risk transfer advisor on the deal, with Rothesay receiving legal advice from Eversheds Sutherland and Pinsents Masons serving as advisor to trustees of the Mativ pensions. Source
Caprock CIO Maps a Bespoke-at-Scale Playbook, With Early-Stage VC in Focus
Caprock Group’s recently appointed CIO Vivek Jindal is staking the multi-family office’s growth on a high-touch, alternatives-led model that treats every client like a single-family office – while building just enough infrastructure to make that customization scalable.
Speaking on the Dakota Live! Podcast, Jindal laid out how Caprock avoids model portfolios, leans on alternatives as alpha drivers, and uses co-mingled structures to secure scarce capacity at top managers. A former senior executive at Core Private Wealth and Schusterman with earlier stints at Corbin Capital and Blackstone, Jindal said his approach is anchored in a risk discipline: “My goal always… is to skew the risk-reward in our favor on every single investment.”
Caprock has $13.8B assets under advisement as of June, $4.4B of which is invested in alternative investments. The firm’s platform is intentionally tight, Jindal said, with only a handful of managers in each sleeve of private equity, venture, private credit, real assets, and selected public market strategies. Re-ups are important, and referrals from trusted GPs carry particular weight. Conferences, AGMs, and client inbounds also shape sourcing, but the emphasis is on depth over breadth. “I don’t have an ego in terms of where the best idea comes from,” he noted, stressing the importance of a collaborative network that includes clients, advisors, peers, and other allocators.
Jindal was clear about where he sees the most compelling opening: early-stage venture. He told Dakota the mispricing sits at the pre-seed, seed, and early Series A levels, where disciplined valuations and high-quality spinouts are raising smaller, more focused vehicles. In contrast, he sees later-stage rounds as vulnerable to inflated pricing, even when big names can eventually justify their valuations. To capture the upside while managing risk, Caprock is rolling out a co-mingled venture structure that delivers diversification across stages, sectors, and vintage years, without layering on fund-of-funds fees. Clients who want heavier thematic exposure – AI, biotech, fintech – can add direct deals or co-investments alongside the diversified sleeve.
On the public side, Caprock is pushing beyond traditional ETFs and SMAs toward programmatic, characteristic-driven portfolios that give clients control over tax efficiency, factors, and credit preferences. Tools like systematic tax-loss harvesting are core to making customization scalable.
Impact investing remains part of the firm’s DNA, but Jindal cautioned against treating it as an outcome in itself. “Impact is so personal to every client,” he said. Some families want only social impact strategies, others faith-based or water rights. Caprock’s role, he explained, is to tailor portfolios that integrate impact within broader risk, liquidity, and return goals.
Jindal emphasized that culture was central to his decision to join Caprock, praising its “small-firm feel” despite national reach. He told Dakota he plans to enhance internal communication with advisors through short, focused forums and expert-led sessions - ranging from biotech science to municipal bonds - to ensure investment ideas can be clearly explained to clients.
The message from Jindal’s first 100 days is straightforward: Caprock is open for business, but not for volume. The strongest opportunities lie with early-stage venture managers showing valuation discipline, private credit and private equity funds that fit cleanly into client liquidity buckets, and strategies that can be slotted into Caprock’s carefully risk-mapped shelves. As Jindal put it, “If you skew the risk-reward as much as possible in your favor on each investment, the portfolio will take care of itself.”
Former Mercer Duo Launches RIA in Atlanta
Atlanta-based advisors Jeffrey Shaver and Joseph Young launched 34 Financial, d/b/a TRG Wealth Management, as an independent RIA. The firm was registered as an RIA with the SEC over a year ago but only recently began operating. Shaver and Young were most recently affiliated with Mercer Global Advisors, and the team also includes two Homrich Berg (now HB Wealth) alums: former business development director Thomas Houle and former family office associate Cody Collins. The firm reportedly has just under $100M in AUM and plans to double that before the end of the year. Sources 1, 2
Beacon Pointe Adds $1.1B in Assets with 3 RIA Acquisitions
Newport Beach, CA-based Beacon Pointe Advisors acquired three RIAs – Alderfer Bergen & Co. in Warsaw, IN; Moser Wealth Advisors in Bellevue, WA; and Amore Ambro in Jericho, NY. Alderfer Bergen, a fiduciary financial advisory firm managing $650M AUM, is led by partners and managing directors Alan Alderfer, Michael Bergen, and Jason Gergely. Moser Wealth, which provides comprehensive tax planning and investment management services, manages $270M in client assets and is led by partner and managing director Scott Moser. Amore Ambro, an independent, fiduciary-focused wealth advisory firm, is led by partner and senior wealth advisor Louis Ambrosio and has $165M in AUM. The Alderfer Bergen and Amore Ambro deals closed on Aug. 1 and Aug. 16, respectively, while Moser Wealth officially joined Beacon on Sept. 1. Beacon Pointe, which is backed by KKR, now has $48B in assets under advisement. Source
Signature Estate to Buy $1.6B Select Money Management in CA
Reverence Capital Partners-backed Signature Estate & Investment Advisors agreed to acquire Select Money Management, a wealth management firm in Aliso Viejo, CA, with $1.6B in client assets. The move expands Signature Estate’s Southern California presence with a new office in Aliso Viejo and 10 additional advisors and staff. Greenberg Traurig served as legal counsel to Signature Estate and Transaction Legal Services acted as legal counsel for Select Money Management. Source
Creative Planning Acquires $1.3B Grassi Investment Management
Overland Park, KS-based RIA Creative Planning acquired Grassi Investment Management, a wealth management firm in Santa Clara, CA, with $1.3B in AUM. Terms of the deal, which closed on Aug. 28, were not disclosed. Decerno Advisors served as the exclusive advisor to Grassi Investment. Creative Planning and its affiliates have $370B in combined assets under management. The firm has minority backing from General Atlantic and TPG Capital. Source
Bluespring Wealth Adds $135M with Acquisition of WI-based New Wall Street
Austin, TX-based aggregator of independent RIAs and hybrid wealth management firms Bluespring Wealth Partners acquired New Wall Street, an existing Kestra Financial firm based in Green Bay, WI, overseeing $135M in client assets. The firm was co-founded by Bernie Van Eperen and Chris Battle. Bluespring’s parent entity Kestra Holdings is majority owned by Stone Point Capital, while Oak Hill Capital holds a minority stake. Source
RayJay, Southeast Lead August Advisor Moves
The Southeast region saw the most advisor movement in August, with 16 transitions ($6.5B AUM). Raymond James topped the recruiting charts with 18 teams and at least $5.8B in assets, while LPL Financial added seven teams managing about $2B. For a complete overview of August advisor moves and other people news, read Dakota's full roundup. Source
$375M VA-based Ameriprise Team Joins LPL
Tysons, VA-based The Capitol Bay Group joined LPL Financial affiliate firm Upstream Investment Partners. The team, led by John Yetman and Manish Mukhi, comes from Ameriprise, where it served $375M in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets. Source
$140M Edward Jones Team Moves to RayJay
Mooresville, NC-based Johnson Private Wealth joined Raymond James’ independent advisor channel Raymond James Financial Services. The team, led by Ben Johnson, comes from Edward Jones, where it managed $140M in client assets. Source
$265M Miami-Based Advisor Joins RayJay
Miami-based advisor Miguel Garcia joined Raymond James’ employee advisor channel Raymond James & Associates. Garcia comes from Oppenheimer & Co., where he managed $265M in client assets. Source
Former J.P. Morgan Advisors Launch Firm on Mariner Platform
Former J.P. Morgan advisors Kyle Briggs and Joe Thomason established Promontory Wealth in the Los Angeles area, launching the firm on Mariner’s independent advisor platform. Source
IDB Lido Wealth Adds Senior Wealth Manager
New York-based IDB Lido Wealth, a joint venture between IDB Bank and Lido Advisors, added Drew Graves as senior vice president and senior wealth manager. Most recently, Graves worked at J.P. Morgan, where he specialized in private client and small business relationship management. Source
AssetMark Names SVP Corporate Strategy, Development
Wealth management platform for independent financial advisors AssetMark appointed Alyson Tucci as senior vice president of corporate strategy and corporate development. In the newly created role, Tucci will oversee corporate strategic priorities, manage M&A activities to strengthen the firm’s offerings, and drive the strategy to accelerate AssetMark’s expansion in the RIA channel and private markets. Tucci joins AssetMark from Alvarez & Marsal, where she served as director in the financial services industry group. Source
IEQ Capital Names Managing Director
$41.7B wealth management firm and multi-family office IEQ Capital appointed Frank Mason as managing director. Mason, in the new role, will advise a select group of clients and contribute to the firm's ongoing investment sourcing and strategy across public and private markets. He joins the firm from J.P. Morgan Private Bank, where he served as executive director advising families, executives, and family offices on bespoke investment strategies and trust and estate planning. Source
Fieldpoint Private Trust Hires Family Office President
Greenwich, CT-based Fieldpoint Private Trust appointed Brian Donovan as president for its family office division. Donovan joins the firm from Northern Trust, where he served as senior managing director for the Greater New York and Connecticut offices. Source
New Private Market Funds Stage Recovery in August
New private markets funds got a big boost in August from overseas governments, with Dakota tracking newly launched funds seeking to raise $226B, based on confirmed and estimated targets, marking a significant increase from $80B in July. Private equity continued to dominate, with new funds in the asset class aiming to raise more than $206B, while real estate came in second place for the month with 11 new funds targeting over $12.52B, followed by private credit ($4.3B) and venture capital ($3.1B).
Government-backed investment funds played a huge role in the sharp upswing, led by Germany, which is preparing a €100B ($116B) fund that will invest in strategic sectors including defense, energy, and critical raw materials. The fund, dubbed Deutschlandfonds, or Germany Fund, will be seeded with €10B ($11.6B) of public funds and marketed to international institutional investors to round out the balance with private funds. In Asia, the Japan Investment Corp. sovereign wealth fund is also gearing up to launch a buyout fund in the fall with investment capacity of ¥800B ($5.4B).
Meanwhile, South Korea, through its Ministry of SMEs and Startups, launched the Startup Korea Fund with investment capacity of KRW 640.1B ($458.6M). The fund has so far received KRW 248.8B ($178.3M) from 27 private investors, including COSMAX and Sungkyunkwan University. Targeting regional startups, the ministry also launched the Busan Innovation Scale-up Venture Fund with investment capacity of KRW 101.1B ($73M) and the Chungnam Corporate Growth Venture Fund with KRW 101.1B ($72.7M) of capital commitments from public and private investors. Separately, the Export–Import Bank of Korea is planning to launch an investment fund in the first half of 2026 that will target small and medium-sized Korean exporters to expand their overseas operations. The state-run lender committed to seeding the fund with KRW 200B ($144.1M), taking it closer to a target of KRW 1T ($721M), and it intends to hire an asset manager to operate the fund and raise the remaining amount from the private sector.
In its latest Global Sovereign Asset Management Study, Invesco reported that state-owned investors, specifically sovereign wealth funds (SWF), have been recalibrating their investment strategies and making adjustments in asset allocation, risk management and diversification plans in the face of geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures and fragmented global trade patterns. The firm's study found that private credit has emerged as one of the beneficiaries of these changes, with 73% of its surveyed SWFs now allocating to the asset class compared with 65% in the prior-year period. "Once a niche allocation, it is increasingly viewed as a strategic pillar offering higher yields, bespoke structuring, and with lower volatility and correlation to public markets," Invesco wrote.
"Private credit plays to our strategic advantages of patient capital," a Middle East-based sovereign investor told the firm. "This allows us to access opportunities that require longer holding periods, bespoke structuring, or greater flexibility – advantages that are increasingly valuable in today's dislocated market environment."
50 South Files for 12th Core Flagship PE Fund
Northern Trust Asset Management’s global alternative investment manager, 50 South Capital Advisors, filed with the SEC for its 12th core flagship private equity fund, Private Equity Core Fund XII. The fund, filed alongside Venture Core Fund XII and Buyout Core Fund XII, will follow Private Equity Core Fund XI, which closed in July with $893M in total commitments. Source
Dunes Point Registers Follow-up to $800M Buyout Fund
Dunes Point Capital registered Dunes Point Capital Fund IV with the SEC, its follow-up to Dunes Point Capital Fund III, which closed oversubscribed in 2024 at $800M against a $775M target. The family office and private investment firm’s latest fund is not expected to be on offer for more than a year, according to the regulatory filing. Source
Legal & General’s Digital Infra Fund Launches with €600M
Legal & General marked the formal launch and initial closing of its digital infrastructure fund with €600M ($705.1M) in capital commitments. L&G Digital Infrastructure Fund, which is expected to have a second close later in 2025, will target businesses and assets in Europe and the US that support the digital transformation, with a focus on data centers, fiber, wireless connectivity, and cloud services. Source
Healthcare-focused Somerset Indus Eyeing October Close for $250M PE Fund
Mumbai-based, healthcare-focused private equity firm Somerset Indus Capital Partners is nearing $250M in capital commitments for its third fund as it eyes an October close. The firm said Fund III has received support from new and existing investors and could surpass its $250M target. Source
Brazilian Early-stage Investor Maya Capital Seeks $80M for Third Flagship Fund
Brazilian early-stage investor Maya Capital is aiming to raise $80M for its third flagship, which will target seed investments in technology startups in Latin America. Maya Capital Ventures III follows the firm’s second flagship, which closed in May 2022 at $98.1M. Source
German VC Vireo Ventures Closes Electrification Fund at €50M
German venture capital firm Vireo Ventures completed the fundraise for its inaugural fund with €50M ($58.7M) in capital commitments from investors including Encevo, Verbund’s Verbund X, EnBW’s EnBW New Ventures, the European Investment Fund, and regional lender NRW.Bank. Electrification Fund I will target European startups looking to synchronize and manage energy generation, electricity grids, storage systems, and downstream applications. Source
Pemberton AM Hits $1.7B Target for Debut NAV Financing Core Fund
Pemberton Asset Management announced that its debut NAV financing fund, NAV Financing Core Fund I, reached its target of $1.7B, increasing the total capital raised across the firm’s NAV financing and GP solutions strategies to $2.7B. Under its NAV financing strategy, the private credit manager provides private equity sponsors with loans secured against a cross-collateralized pool of underlying portfolio companies. Source
Ardent Targeting $700M for Sixth Real Estate Credit Fund
Private real estate firm Ardent is aiming to raise $700M for Ardent Financial Fund VI, according to a filing with the SEC. The firm had previously said the fund was targeting $600M. The fund, which follows the firm’s $500M Fund V, is offered with a minimum investment requirement of $2.5M, with the fundraise expected to last more than a year. Source
Wentworth Capital Raises AUD 350M for First RE PE Fund
Wentworth Capital raised AUD 350M ($231.1M) for Wentworth Real Estate Private Equity Fund I with commitments from investors including family offices and sovereign wealth funds. The property investment firm is reportedly aiming to grow the fund to as much as AUD 2B ($1.32B) over the next decade. Source
Cantor Fitzgerald Begins Offering of Gold-protected Bitcoin Fund
Cantor Fitzgerald Asset Management commenced an offering of a gold-protected Bitcoin fund, targeting capital from accredited investors seeking exposure to cryptocurrency under a risk-managed framework. The Cantor Fitzgerald Gold Protected Bitcoin Fund aims to deliver 45% of Bitcoin’s uncapped appreciation over a five-year investment period. Source
ILS-focused Reinsurance Platform MultiStrat Gears Up for New Diversified Fund
Insurance-linked securities-focused (ILS) reinsurance platform MultiStrat is reportedly planning to begin fundraising in September for a new diversified fund with a target in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Through the fund, which is expected to be structured as a three-year facility, the insurance-linked securities platform intends to support businesses including casualty, catastrophe-light property, and specialty insurers. The firm has engaged Howden Capital Markets & Advisory to work on the capital raise. Source
Kroll, StepStone Launch Private Credit Benchmarks
Risk advisory solutions provider Kroll and private markets firm StepStone Group teamed up to launch the Kroll StepStone Private Credit Benchmarks. The benchmarks are updated weekly and are available on the private capital markets platform under Kroll’s private asset valuation solutions. Source
iCapital Partners with Tangible Markets to Launch Private Funds Marketplace
iCapital and financial technology company Tangible Markets are partnering to launch a private funds marketplace on iCapital's platform. The marketplace, which will utilize Tangible Markets’ technology, will allow investors to buy and sell interest in private funds, with a screening process that will only allow pre-approved investors to participate in transactions. Source
Northern Trust AM President to Join Franklin Templeton as Co-president, CCO
Daniel Gamba will join New York-based investment firm Franklin Templeton as co-president and chief commercial officer, effective October 15. Gamba currently serves as president of Northern Trust Asset Management and also worked at BlackRock for more than 20 years. Franklin Templeton reportedly hired Gamba as part of its further expansion into private markets. Gamba will be co-president along with head of public market investments Terrence Murphy and CFO and COO Matthew Nicholls. Source
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