USA

SFERS hires New York State Common’s Art Wang

San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) has appointed Art Wang as managing director for private markets, with responsibility for private equity, real estate and real assets. He joins from New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) where...

  • LPs
PSERS to invest in Morgan Stanley PE Asia’s fourth fund

Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) has received a commitment of up to $100 million for its fourth fund from Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS). The pension system previously invested in global funds launched by Morgan...

Commonfund promotes Beijing office head

Commonfund Capital has promoted Leenong Li, head of its Beijing office and wider Asian initiatives, to managing director. He joined the firm in 2010, having previously spent five years as managing director of Jerusalem Venture Partners’ Shanghai office...

KKR boosts Asia business by offering outbound deal access

Building relationships and generating deal flow in Asia doesn’t necessarily involve starting in Asia, according to Joe Bae, regional head of KKR. The private equity firm has made inroads in Japan, South Korea and China by providing local partners with...

Massachusetts pension fund appoints PE head

The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Board (MassPRIM) has appointed Michael Bailey as senior investment officer and director of private equity. The post was previously held by Wayne Smith, who departed in July 2011.

  • LPs
EMPEA’s Alexander to join Abraaj

Sarah Alexander, CEO of the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA), has agreed to join The Abraaj Group as a managing director. EMPEA’s executive committee has recommended that Jennifer Choi, currently vice president of industry and external...

Texas County & District invests $50m in RRJ’s second fund

Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) has committed $50 million to RRJ Capital’s second fund, which is targeting up to $5 billion. The private equity firm is run by Richard Ong, who previously co-founded China-focused Hopu Investment Management,...

ShangPhama board agrees to TPG-backed buyout

ShangPharma Corporation, a Chinese pharmaceutical and biotech research outsourcing firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has agreed to management buyout by Michael Hui, the firm’s chairman and CEO, and TPG Capital. The transaction values the company...

Primus co-founder in aircraft leasing club deal

During a week in which it emerged that Primus Financial Holdings was no more, two of its co-founders reemerged in new guises. First, Dexia announced that it was in exclusive negotiations with GCS Capital, a financial services-focused PE firm run by GuocangHuan,...

US, India-focused Naya reaches first close on VC fund

Naya Ventures, a US-based VC firm that also invests in India, has reached a first close of $50 million on a fund targeting the mobile and cloud markets. Its approach involves providing capital and industry expertise to early-stage companies with a view...

Sinagpore’s Ventrillion invests $15m in Clean Coal

Singapore’s Ventrillion Management has agreed to invest up to $15 million in US-listed Clean Coal Technologies. The company, which holds patents for technology that converts raw coal into a cleaner burning fuel, will use the proceeds to complete its...

New York Life Capital is renamed GoldPoint

New York Life Capital Partners, the boutique investment arm of New York Life, has renamed itself GoldPoint Partners. The exercise is intended to create a distinct identity for the firm; it doesn’t involve any change in ownership, management personnel...

  • LPs
IDG-Accel China in take-private bid for US-listed Memsic

IDG-Accel China has submitted a takeover bid for NASDAQ-listed Memsic that values the semiconductor manufacturer at $96.8 million. The prospective investor would like to work with Yang Zhao, Memsic’s founder and CEO, to formulate a definitive proposal...

Pension plans unsure about VC commitments

North American pension plans are exhibiting mixed feelings towards venture capital funds – some find GPs that were once refused to take meetings are now opening up to a wider range of investors while others are backing off from the asset class, blaming...

LPs wary about raising Asia PE allocations above 10% - AVCJ Forum

Institutional investors are generally happy to deploy 10% of their private equity allocation in Asia, but they say it is difficult to justify increasing this portion until risk factors ease and local managers build up stable teams and more substantive...

  • LPs
Regulatory uncertainty
Asia fundraising: In Volcker's shadow

With the Volcker Rule and Basel III compliance forcing US financial institutions to pull back from private equity, some Asian GPs are in a state of flux. New fundraising strategies are required