September 25th, 2025
Good Afternoon Dakota,
LACERS just hit a milestone that’s got its board talking—but not all the chatter is celebratory. The Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System topped $27 billion in assets for the first time, clocked a solid double-digit return for the fiscal year, and still found itself under the microscope.
Why? Because bigger peers like CalPERS are squeezing out better net returns, thanks to scale, fee discounts, and a whole lot of internal horsepower. Now, LACERS is looking to close the gap—starting with private equity co-investments and fee savings wherever it can find them.
Let’s break down the numbers, the strategy, and what comes next.
Let’s get into it…
🚧 Table of Contents roadblock: Gmail doesn’t play nice with in-email links. For the full experience, read this issue online at news.dakota.com
Dakota’s August 2025 Public Pension Brief shows continued momentum across 350+ public pension funds nationwide, with private credit leading the charge. Funds are increasingly targeting real estate value-add, data infrastructure, and energy transition strategies, while several systems—like Chicago Teachers and Arkansas PERS—are updating pacing plans and allocations toward alternatives. Leadership changes and new consultant hires underscore a broader evolution in public pension investment strategy and execution.
INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS
LACERS Weighs PE Exposure as Assets Top $27b
The Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System (LACERS) crossed a major milestone with $27.04B AUM, its highest ever. A strong 6.2% Q2 return and 11.2% fiscal-year performance placed the fund in the top quartile of public plans by size.
Still, board members focused on net return gaps versus larger peers like CalPERS, despite LACERS holding 19% in private equity compared to CalPERS’ 17.7%.
“They have an entirely dedicated private equity set who focus purely on trying to find no fee, no carry type investments,” said deputy CIO Wilkin Ly, adding LACERS aims to expand co-investments to cut fees.
Also on the agenda: a three-year renewal for Oberweis Asset Management, an upcoming PE secondaries session from AXA, and rate cut implications for commercial real estate.
Investments & Searches
State Funds Consortium: APG, GIC, and Norges Bank investing €9.5B for 46% of Tennet Germany, valuing the grid operator at €40B, with closing expected H1 2026.
MN: Dutch pension administrator preparing a €500M secondaries sale, following a €1–1.5B portfolio sale last year, with Evercore advising.
Texas Municipal Retirement System: Committed $1.2B across private equity, credit, and real assets in Q2, bringing total investments to $5.18B as of June 30.
New Mexico SIC: Approved $885M in alternative fund commitments, spanning infrastructure, real estate debt, and venture capital.
Virginia Retirement System: Planning $295M in new commitments, including Barings infra debt and ICONIQ growth equity.
La Caisse (CDPQ): Allocating $250M to Pembroke’s concentrated SMID-cap equity strategy, supporting its Quebec investment targets.
Ohio SERS: Approved $295M in infra and private equity commitments, including JP Morgan, Manulife, Great Hill, and Riverside funds.
Aviva: Completed a £160M bulk annuity buy-in with the SG Pension Fund, advised by Aon and Gowling.
Other
ADIA: Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will maintain tech focus (AI) while expanding in private credit, PE, and alts, alongside refining equity exposures.
US Plan Sponsors: Favoring full plan terminations over lift-outs as PRT volumes decline amid competition, legal challenges, and economic uncertainty.
Standard Life: Preparing to launch “Future Opportunities” default fund with up to 25% in private markets, leveraging Future Growth Capital and Schroders.
WEALTH CHANNEL
$129B Team Departs Merrill, Launches Dynasty-Backed OpenArc
A powerhouse Merrill Lynch team overseeing $129B in client assets has broken away to form OpenArc Corporate Advisory in Atlanta, backed by Dynasty Financial Partners and custodied by Charles Schwab.
Leadership: Senior managing partner Erik Bjerke with partners Jeff Crowell, Jim Kaufman, Kevin Higginbotham, and Emily Fletcher lead a group of 80 registered advisors serving 95 corporate clients and over 10,000 families.
Model: OpenArc blends corporate retirement plans, stock comp, and UHNW wealth into an open-architecture platform, with plans to scale via tuck-ins and RIA acquisitions.
Dynasty’s Role: Took a minority stake, providing tech, M&A, and investment infrastructure; CEO Shirl Penney joins the board.
Legal Clash: Merrill swiftly filed a federal lawsuit alleging a “pre-meditated corporate raid,” seeking damages and restrictions on client solicitation. Dynasty and Schwab reject the claims, emphasizing advisor and client choice.
OpenArc’s launch underscores the accelerating shift to independence at institutional scale, even as legacy wirehouses fight to defend talent and assets.
Advisor Moves
TIAA to One Capital: Nine advisors/PMs left TIAA’s RIA Advice & Planning Services to join One Capital Management ($7.2B AUM) across Denver, Walnut Creek, Westlake Village, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City.
VALIC to Osaic: Columbus, OH advisor Bart Butler ($400M AUM) launched Rightside Financial, joining Osaic affiliate Signature Equity Partners.
LPL to RayJay: New Haven, CT’s Raymond Wealth Advisors ($100M AUM), led by Michael and Christopher Raymond, moved from LPL to Raymond James Financial Services.
Other People Moves
J.P. Morgan Advisors: Molly Colavita named CEO, succeeding Phil Sieg who retires October 15; Colavita joined in 2021 from Merrill Lynch.
Pallas Capital: Kevin Crain joins as retirement services advisor at the $3B wealth firm; former head of retirement research at BofA Merrill Lynch.
Other
Digital Wealth Partners: Expands into traditional finance via Altruist partnership, offering a unified platform for digital assets and traditional securities.
I Squared Capital: Launches ISQ OpenInfra, giving private wealth investors access to institutional-grade infrastructure through a dedicated distribution team.
DBS Multi Family Office: Singapore MFO aims to double AUM to SGD 2B ($1.55B) by 2026, after surpassing SGD 1B ($775.8M) in two years.
UBS US Wealth Advisors: Raising compensation and payouts starting Jan 2026 to retain talent amid competition, including a new tier for advisors generating over $20M annually.
PRIVATE FUNDS
Apollo Expands Private Market Access with Three New ELTIFs
Apollo Global Management has secured regulatory approval to launch three new European long-term investment funds (ELTIFs), broadening access to private markets for wealth investors globally.
Funds: Apollo European Private Credit ELTIF, Apollo Global Diversified Credit ELTIF, and Apollo Global Private Markets ELTIF.
Strategy: Offers exposure to senior secured loans, global multi-asset credit, and private company secondaries/co-investments.
Accessibility: Subscriptions start at €10K ($11.8K) with monthly investment opportunities and quarterly redemptions capped at 5%.
Global Reach: Available to investors across EMEA, Asia, and Latin America, part of Apollo’s broader effort to make private markets more widely accessible.
Platform Scale: With these launches, Apollo’s global wealth platform will host eight evergreen Luxembourg products; Q2 inflows totaled $4B, with total AUM at $143B.
Apollo joins other major managers—BlackRock, Schroders, Ares, JP Morgan, and Partners Group—in expanding ELTIF offerings as demand for private market exposure grows.
Private Equity
Ridgemont Equity: Raised nearly $4B for its latest US mid-market buyout fund (Ridgemont V), with $250M from Virginia, LA Fire & Police, and Texas Teacher pension systems.
Coniston Capital: Coniston Capital II exceeds £30M ($40.3M) first-close target, targeting UK small/mid-cap SMEs and buy-and-build strategies.
Big Pi Ventures: Launched €200M ($234.7M) Big Pi Growth I fund for tech-focused growth equity in Greece and Southeast Europe, with first close at €130M ($152.6M).
Venture Capital
Athera Venture Partners: Bengaluru-based firm expected to close its fourth fund at INR 9B ($101.4M) in October, with prior investments including Ati Motors, Terra, ClickPost, CynLr, Hyperbots, and Billion Hearts.
Good Capital: Delhi-based VC raises $30M for its second AI-focused fund, investing in startups like Rio, Xhipment, and Nuuk, slightly below its $35M target.
Other
BC Wood Properties: First close of Real Estate Fund IV, targeting $200M ($250M hard cap) for necessity-based neighborhood retail centers, anchored by a university endowment.
Morgan Stanley – Mesa West: Files for Real Estate Income Fund VI, following the $1.37B oversubscribed Fund V, to invest in loans secured by value-add/transitional US commercial real estate.
People
DoubleLine Capital: Ali Zaidi appointed head of international business in Dubai, formerly leading Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s MENA client operations.