Mendocino County Takes Fresh Look at PE; Weatherford Capital Raises First Dedicated Sports Fund

Mendocino County Takes Fresh Look at PE

Weatherford Capital Raises First Sports Fund

Three recent board meetings touched on how the institutions plan to allocate capital in the months ahead, from shifting equity exposure to weighing new allocations to private equity and diversifying strategies.

Montana Board of Investments, which oversees about $32B, approved revised ranges, lowering the domestic equity midpoint for its pension plans to 27% from 28% and raising the international equity midpoint to 16% from 15%. CIO Jon Putnam cited long-term capital market assumptions and a deglobalization catalyst, pointing to Germany’s lifted debt caps and rising defense spending. The move continues a multiyear shift of the board’s trust funds out of investment grade bonds into non-core fixed income and alternatives.

Arizona PSPRS, which oversees $28.1B, is weighing a larger allocation to diversifying strategies ahead of its 2027 review, with CIO Mark Steed pointing to market-neutral strategies with low correlation to the AI trade as the likeliest area for new capital. The system remains intentionally under target in both private equity and private credit in anticipation of a market correction, and the board voted to clarify its China-related investment restrictions for its 2027 legislative agenda.

Mendocino County Employees’ Retirement Association, a $908.8M system with no current private equity or private credit exposure, used an October 21 meeting to revisit the asset class with consultant Callan, the latest in a monthly education series building toward a March asset-liability study. Callan’s Ashley Kahn said private equity is expected to outperform public markets by 2% to 3% over the long term. Separately, the system sent $3.8M in real estate capital calls to LaSalle Investment Management and Kayne Anderson as it continues rebuilding an allocation that’s been underweight since 2022.

On the GP fundraising side, Weatherford Capital, led by brothers Drew, Sam and Will Weatherford, began raising its first fund dedicated solely to sports investing, building on a deal-by-deal strategy it has pursued since 2023 across youth, collegiate, and professional sports; J.P. Morgan Asset Management registered a new perpetual direct lending vehicle as it builds out a front-to-back private credit platform led by Jeff Bracchitta; and FFL Partners closed its sixth flagship fund at more than $1.35B, exceeding its $1B target and roughly 50% larger than its $900M predecessor.