David Toll
It’s not easy to crack the top-10 performing funds in the private equity portfolio of Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association, which has committed more than $10 billion to more than 200 domestic and international venture capital, buyout, funds of funds and other kinds of private equity funds since 1982. In fact, it takes a 42.2 […]
Want to catch up on the slideshows that your peers found most interesting on peHUB this week? Here are the top 10 slideshows that garnered the most pageviews from regular readers from Aug. 1 to Aug. 5. They focused on how the biggest VC-backed IPOs fared in the market wipeout on Thursday, VC performance numbers from CalPERS, a review of the year's biggest PR disasters, and the proliferating number of bank spin-outs in the market seeking money. 1. How This Year's Ten Biggest VC-Backed IPOs Fared In The Market Plunge by Lawrence Aragon
2. CalPERS's 2008 Banner Year For VC: Top Commitments And Current IRRs by Mark Boslet
3. CalPERS's Mid-Decade Enthusiasm: More Funds, Greater Diversification In 2007 by Mark Boslet
4. If You Thought Airbnb's PR Crisis Was Bad... by Connie Loizos
5. Spinning Their Way To New Investors by Jon Marino
6. Idaho Public Employee Retirement System Top Performing Funds by David M. Toll
7. Spotify And Other Top European Deals in 2011 by Alastair Goldfisher (subscribers only)
8. Textbook Startups Raise Big VC Rounds by Joanna Glasner
9. VCs Tackle Baldness, Love Handles, And Assorted Blemishes With Big Bucks by Joanna Glasner
10. Who’s Getting Rich Off of the Dunkin’ IPO? Here Are the Top Shareholders, by Luisa Beltran (subscribers only)
So, which blog posts and news stories rose to the top of the most-read list this week? Following are the top 10 posts that garnered the most pageviews from regular readers of peHUB from August 1-5. (We do a separate list for the week's most popular slideshows.) This week's hot topics include fund-raising news from Avista Capital, CCMP Capital and Sycamore Partners;a video job pitch to Google gone viral; a critique of a Washington Post article on VCs and entrepreneurship (arguably the worst ever); and alumni networks that have formed around successful startups such as VMware, Tesla Motors and AdMob.
1. Matthew Epstein: "I'm Shocked Google Hasn't Issued a Cease and Desist Order" by Connie Loizos
2. Worst Analysis of VCs and Entrepreneurship EVER! by John Backus
3. VCJ Cover Story: The Networking Effect by Joanna Glasner
4. Teten & Farmer: VC and PE Funds' Best Practices In Sourcing Investments by David Teten
5. What's next For Real Estate Venture? by Joanna Glasner
6. Warburg Pincus Eyes Small Fries by Joseph Giannone
7. Avista Capital Looks To Raise $2B Fund by Luisa Beltran
8. Ex-JPMorgan Affiliate Looks to SWFs As It Gears Up For Fund III by Bernard Vaughan
9. Golden Gate spin-out, Raising First Fund, Takes Stake in Talbots by Bernard Vaughan
10. Guggenheim Venture Partners Becomes Alara Capital press release
Yet another batch of fresh private-equity return data has landed on our doorstep–in this case, from Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho. Earlier this summer we also found, for the first time, data from New Jersey State Investment Council and Texas County & District Retirement System. All told that makes about a dozen U.S. pensions that post detailed […]
Many distressed opportunities and turnaround firms operate in obscurity, by choice or by happenstance. In recent months sources close to two of them have pushed back the curtains to reveal more about their strategies and track records, according to sister magazine Buyouts. One is TPG Credit Management, an affiliate of David Bonderman’s TPG Capital, the […]
The market is teeming with fundraising hopefuls, from spin-out groups seeking modest sums to mega-firms after multi-billion-dollar war chests. Around the world, more than 1,600 private equity funds are in the market seeking an estimated $673 billion, according to data provider Preqin. It’s a measure of the difficulty of securing commitments that so far their […]
It’s not often that we contributors to peHUB come across a stash of private-equity return data from a fresh source. But we managed to do it twice in just the past few weeks. First came data from a young portfolio managed by the New Jersey State Investment Council. And now we’ve got our hands on data from a […]
The New Jersey State Investment Council, which faces a significant unfunded liability gap for the pension funds it manages, appears to be looking to alternative investments as one way to meet its obligations. Earlier this year, according to peHUB sister magazine Buyouts, the state raised its allocation cap on alternative investments — including private equity, […]
Nearly 300 of you turned out last week for our fourth annual Buyouts Chicago conference, held at the The Ritz Carlton. For those that did there were no shortage of highlights, from Kevin Conway, managing partner of Clayton Dubilier & Rice (pictured at left), acknowledging that the firm's latest $5 billion fund is about 60 percent invested just a year and a half after holding a final close; Doug Lowenstein, president of the Private Equity Growth Capital Council, holding forth on the "Holy Trinity" of tax issues facing private equity professionals; and John Morris, managing director of HarbourVest Partners, noting that it has become "very common" for the Boston-based manager of funds of funds to get requests for extensions of investment periods. Among memorable quotes, Phil Canfield, principal of GTCR, suggested the worst of the housing crisis may be behind us, saying "I wish I needed another house right now." Rodger Krouse, co-CEO of Sun Capital Partners, said the country is "not only ready but needs a private equity president." And Sanjiv Shah, managing director, BAML Capital Access Funds, said that "LPs are digging in to make sure no one's getting rich on management fees." Click through to see more pictures from the event.
What was hot on peHUB this week? Posts that garnered the most pageviews from regular readers from June 20 to June 24 included reader opinions about the SEC's registration carve-out for venture capital firms; returns generated by Austin Ventures and Morgenthaler provided by UTIMCO (for the second week in a row); and the top five strategic buyers of sponsor-backed companies; and more. 1. Accel-erating Returns at the Top-Tier VC, by Jonathan Marino 2. UTIMCO Holds 7 Austin Ventures Funds, 4 of Which Have Negative IRRS, by Mark Boslet (subscribers only) 3. New Venture Commitments Fall at UTIMCO, by Mark Boslet 4. The Flame-Throwing History of Michael Arrington, by Connie Loizos 5. IRRs for Eight Morgenthaler , Courtesy of UTIMCO Funds, by Mark Boslet (subscribers only) 6. Cloud, Social Media, Health Services Top List of Hottest Venture Markets, by Mark Boslet 7. 5 Top Strategic Buyers Of Sponsor-Backed Companies, by Bernard Vaughan 8. Winklevoss Twins Give Up Facebook Appeal, by Jonathan Stempel 9. Top 10 Winners in Pandora's IPO, by Lawrence Aragon (subscribers only) 10. TALK BACK: The SEC Defines Venture Capital, by Jonathan Marino