SBCERS Eyes $50M Annual Private Credit Pacing; NMERB Names New CIO

Santa Barbara County Employees' Retirement System is targeting $50M in annual private credit commitments to maintain a 5% allocation target, with RVK recommending a pace of two to three funds per year and at least one commitment to a new manager per cycle. Preferred sub-strategies include multi-strategy, special situations, and asset-backed debt, with two commitments of approximately $15M–$25M each anticipated in the second half of 2026. 

Among other allocators, Ohio School Employees Retirement System approved $175M in new commitments – up to $75M in opportunistic private credit and up to $100M to a private infrastructure fund – while simultaneously adjusting its asset allocation policy: real estate was reduced from 13% to 7%, infrastructure raised from 7% to 10%, and a new 3% gold allocation was established. Elsewhere, the Laborers' and Retirement Board Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago issued an RFP for a global infrastructure manager to provide discretionary advisory services for a mandate of up to $35M.

On the fundraising side, Voya Investment Management filed for Voya Allianz Private Credit Secondaries Fund, targeting $1B, with Allianz Capital Partners named as sub-advisor; CapMan Infra held the first close of its third Nordic infrastructure fund, targeting €750M; and Deep33, a US-Israel deep-tech venture capital firm, closed its debut fund at $200M, above its $150M target.

In people news, New Mexico Educational Retirement Board reportedly appointed Steve Neel as CIO, succeeding Bob Jacksha who retired this month after holding the role since 2007. Neel has spent nearly 20 years at NMERB, most recently as deputy CIO overseeing the fund's alternatives platform. Prime Super appointed Mark Rider as general manager, investments, joining from Brighter Super where he served as CIO. And Pensionskasse Stadt Zürich promoted Oliver Grimm to head of investments, effective early next year, succeeding Jürg Tobler who will transition to a specialist role.

Read on for all the day’s fundraising news headlines.

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Professional sports franchises have crossed from passion-driven assets into a documented institutional allocation. Across the NFL, NBA, MLB, and English Premier League, franchise values now exceed $500B across 112 teams, driven by limited supply, accelerating media rights revenue, and a growing wave of institutional capital. The Ross-Arctos Sports Franchise Index delivered 16.0% annualized returns over the trailing 10 years through Q1 2026. KKR's $1.4B acquisition of Arctos Partners in February 2026 — the firm that holds positions in 15 institutional sports franchises — is the clearest signal yet that the largest alternative asset managers now view sports as a core allocation category.

This report covers the investment case for sports as a discrete asset class, ownership structures and valuation trends across all four leagues, the 16 institutional platforms actively deploying capital, the nine funds currently in market, which LP categories are committing and why, and where the market is heading over the next decade.

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Digital assets have crossed the threshold from speculative fringe to documented institutional allocation. 

Dakota Marketplace tracks more than 4,000 institutional investors with disclosed digital asset ETF positions, spanning hedge funds, RIAs, endowments, and state pension funds, with new filers appearing every 13F cycle. The access barriers are gone, the regulatory framework is taking shape, and the largest capital pools in the world are still in the early stages of their digital asset journey.

A new Dakota Research report covers who is allocating and through which vehicles, how the manager universe is structured across VC, institutional asset managers, and hedge funds, where the regulatory calendar stands, and why tokenization is beginning to blur the line between a crypto allocation and a private markets allocation delivered on-chain.

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