STRS Ohio Sets $3.7B Pacing Target; Bridgepoint to Acquire Kayne Anderson RE

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is targeting up to $3.7B in combined private equity and private credit commitments for fiscal 2027, beginning July 1. The private equity pacing target of $1.1B to $1.5B emphasizes middle-market buyout managers with sector specialization and expanded co-investments; the private credit target of $1.4B to $2.2B spans direct lending, specialty finance, and co-investment portfolios. The plan also calls for reducing office exposure in real estate and closing an overweight to REITs. 

Among other allocator activity, Texas Municipal Retirement System committed $300M to Conifer Infrastructure Partners I, the manager's debut energy and critical materials infrastructure fund, requiring a board-level waiver of a concentration limit – the commitment represents approximately a third of Conifer's total AUM. Separately, the Town of Plymouth Retirement System is considering an RFP for international equity manager services.

On the GP side, Bridgepoint Group agreed to acquire Kayne Anderson Real Estate for approximately $1.4B. Kayne Anderson RE manages roughly $22B across equity and debt strategies; the combined firm will manage approximately $117B. Also in the GP space, Ares Management is marketing Asia Direct Lending II, targeting leveraged buyout financing across Asia Pacific with a raise expected to exceed its predecessor's $1.7B.

In people news, NZ Super Fund named William Fletcher as head of private equity and alternative investments, joining from Fisher Funds; and Natixis Investment Managers affiliate Mirova appointed Léa Dunand-Chatellet as CEO, succeeding founder Philippe Zaouati after fourteen years; she joins from fellow Natixis affiliate DNCA Finance.

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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