The data behind this list comes from Dakota Marketplace, the global private markets intelligence platform used by thousands of investment professionals to research LPs, GPs, and private companies. Built by fundraisers for fundraisers, Dakota Marketplace delivers complete, accurate, and daily-updated intelligence across every allocator channel, from family offices and RIAs to sovereign wealth funds and public pensions. Learn More | Book a Demo
International RFP Activity: What We Tracked in the First Half of 2026
We logged 32 international RFPs, RFIs, and manager searches in Dakota Marketplace between January and June 2026.
Here is where the demand concentrated, and what it tells fund managers about where to focus international outreach right now.
The Breakdown by Country
Italy accounted for 16 of the 32 searches tracked, exactly half. No other market came close.
|
Country
|
Searches
|
Share of Total
|
|
Italy
|
16
|
50%
|
|
France
|
4
|
13%
|
|
Sweden
|
3
|
9%
|
|
Denmark
|
2
|
6%
|
|
United Kingdom
|
2
|
6%
|
|
Finland
|
2
|
6%
|
|
Switzerland
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Taiwan
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Norway
|
1
|
3%
|
Italian pension funds, both public and corporate, were the most active issuers of formal searches in our data this half. France was a distant second, and the remaining 12 searches were spread thinly across six other markets, including one search from Taiwan, the only Asia-Pacific allocator to issue a tracked RFP in the period.
The Breakdown by Asset Class
Equity mandates led, but the gap was narrower than the country concentration suggests.
|
Asset Class
|
Searches
|
Share of Total
|
|
Equity
|
11
|
34%
|
|
Private Equity
|
5
|
16%
|
|
Infrastructure
|
5
|
16%
|
|
Private Debt
|
3
|
9%
|
|
Fixed Income
|
2
|
6%
|
|
Generalist Portfolio Management
|
2
|
6%
|
|
Multi-Asset
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Real Estate
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Money Market
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Private Markets (multi-strategy)
|
1
|
3%
|
Equity searches spanned the widest range of mandates, from passive US large cap to active healthcare and biotech, to ESG-focused international equity, to eurozone large cap growth. Private equity and infrastructure tied for second, together accounting for 10 of the 32 searches and pointing to sustained allocator appetite for private markets exposure alongside traditional equity mandates.
The Breakdown by Account Type
|
Account Type
|
Searches
|
Share of Total
|
|
Public Pension Fund
|
23
|
72%
|
|
Corporate Pension Fund
|
6
|
19%
|
|
Sovereign Wealth Fund
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Endowment
|
1
|
3%
|
|
Corporation
|
1
|
3%
|
Public pension funds drove the overwhelming majority of tracked activity, nearly three-quarters of all searches. Corporate pension funds, almost entirely from Italy, made up most of the rest.
What This Means for Fund Managers
The first half of 2026 made one thing clear: if international RFP activity is a priority, Italy should be too. Half of all tracked searches came from Italian public and corporate pension funds, spanning private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and equity mandates. Equity searches were the single largest asset class overall, but private markets mandates (private equity, private debt, and infrastructure combined) made up more than a quarter of total activity, reinforcing that public pension funds across Europe are still actively building out alternatives exposure even as they continue to run equity searches.
Fund managers targeting international institutional capital in the second half of 2026 should prioritize relationships with Italian public and corporate pension funds first, and treat France, Sweden, and Denmark as secondary but active markets worth monitoring closely.
Dakota Marketplace tracks RFPs, RFIs, and manager searches from allocators around the world as they're issued, giving fund managers visibility into live mandates before they're widely known. If international fundraising is part of your strategy for the second half of the year, book a demo to see how Dakota can keep your team ahead of the next search.
