Kern County Commits $275M Across Private Markets; IMCO Splits CIO Role

Kern County Commits $275M to Private Markets

IMCO Splits CIO Role

Kern County Employees' Retirement Association (KCERA) committed a combined $275M across six private markets investments under its CIO delegation policy, including a $70M allocation to Hudson Bay Capital's Real Estate Opportunities Fund II and a $50M re-up to TPG's Essential Housing Fund IV. The pension also rebalanced its public equity and fixed income exposure, trimming index and small-cap growth positions while fully redeeming its American Century Investments non-US small-cap mandate.

In other allocator news, Texas County & District Retirement System committed $110M to GTCR XV, extending a relationship spanning multiple GTCR fund vintages; and in France, Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites concluded a private debt manager search launched last October, awarding an €800M mandate split among Eurazeo Global Investor, Eiffel Investment Group, and Zencap Asset Management to finance small and mid-sized French companies.

On the GP fundraising side, Lightspeed Venture Partners filed a Form D for its AI Renaissance Fund, a private-equity-style vehicle aimed at operational transformation across traditional service industries, with no target raise or investors disclosed yet. Elsewhere, Layer Global reportedly held a $1.1B first close on its debut fund, targeting fast-growing AI and software companies; and Quadrivio Group reportedly plans to launch a longevity-focused private equity fund in 2027 with an initial $400M hard cap and room to raise up to $575M.

In leadership developments, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario said CIO Rossitsa Stoyanova will step down effective January 2027, with the pension distributing her responsibilities across three promoted executive managing directors rather than naming a successor. At the Wisconsin Investment Management Company, Greg Elkins was promoted to managing director of investments after more than seven years as director of investments. And in Germany, Ärzteversorgung Westfalen-Lippe named Lutz Horstick head of investments, succeeding Markus Altenhoff, who stepped down for health reasons.