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Everyone eventually sees an open search. Almost nobody sees a pacing search unless they're combing through board minutes themselves, and by the time a search goes formal, you're competing with everyone who saw the same email from the consultant at the same time.
In this article, we'll walk through what a pacing search actually is, where to find them in Dakota Marketplace, and how to use that head start before the crowd shows up.
What a Pacing Search Actually Is
A pacing search is an allocator telling you, through their own board minutes, what they're planning to commit next: how much, into what strategy, and on what timeline. That's different from an open search or RFP, where they're actively evaluating managers right now. A pacing search is the "here's what's coming" signal, sometimes months before anything goes public. The catch is that these live in public pension board meeting minutes, hundred-page PDFs nobody wants to read.
Dakota's data team digs through them and turns that information into clean, filterable records tied to the same allocator profiles and contacts you're already using. Today, that's 170+ pacing searches live, spanning Private Equity, Private Credit, Private Real Estate, Real Assets, Private Infrastructure, and Multi-Asset plans.
Where to Find Pacing Searches in Dakota Marketplace
You'll find pacing searches under the Searches tab, filtered to "Pacing." The dashboard view splits everything into Open, Pacing, Completed, and Upcoming quadrants side by side, filterable by asset class, consultant, and posted date, so you can see a plan's commitment size and strategy at a glance without digging into individual records.
3 Use Cases for Pacing Searches in Dakota Marketplace
Use It to Catch What You've Been Missing
Most fundraisers simply never see this signal, since it requires reading board minutes manually to find it. One fundraiser, walked through pacing searches for the first time, found dozens of relevant plans across real assets and infrastructure in a single session and said she'd been "missing this information desperately," despite having tried to read board minutes manually herself before.
Book a demo to see pacing searches for the asset classes you cover.
Use It to Get Ahead of Formal Outreach
By the time a search is formally announced, everyone chasing it is starting from the same information at the same time. One firm found a $400M private debt commitment sitting in a pacing search, straight from board minutes, putting them ahead of the emails consultants eventually send once a search goes formal.
Use It to Rebuild Your Sourcing Workflow Around Early Signal
Once a team sees how much is sitting in pacing data, it tends to change how they approach sourcing going forward. One team, shown pacing plans derived from pension board transcripts during a walkthrough, is now rebuilding parts of their daily workflow around checking pacing data regularly, rather than treating it as a one-off discovery.
Get the Heads-Up Before the Crowd Shows Up
A pacing search is the closest thing to knowing what's coming before anyone else does. Checking the Searches tab filtered to Pacing, by asset class or consultant, gives you a window most fundraisers never see, since it requires digging through board minutes most people don't have time to read.
Book a demo to see pacing searches tied to the allocator profiles you already track.
FAQs
What's the difference between a pacing search and an open search? An open search means an allocator is actively evaluating managers right now. A pacing search is a forward-looking signal, sometimes months out, sourced directly from board meeting minutes.
Where do pacing searches come from? Public pension board meeting minutes, which Dakota's data team reviews and turns into structured, filterable records.
How many pacing searches does Dakota Marketplace track? 170+ live today, spanning Private Equity, Private Credit, Private Real Estate, Real Assets, Private Infrastructure, and Multi-Asset plans.
