Reports Blog

February 2026 Private Markets Review

Dakota — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 21:19:09 GMT

February extended the momentum seen in January. M&A activity improved and venture funding reached new highs, led by OpenAI’s $110 billion financing, the largest private technology round ever, and Anthropic’s $30 billion Series G. At the same time, Anthropic’s latest model releases triggered a sharp sell-off in global software stocks as investors reassessed sector valuations.

February 2026 Public Pension Brief

Dakota — Tue, 03 Mar 2026 15:03:03 GMT

Highlights from February:

State of Wisconsin Investment Board disclosed a broad slate of commitments across private equity, private credit, real assets, and real estate, including allocations to Blackstone GP Stakes Fund III, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund V, Green Equity Investors X, Harvest Structured Capital Fund IV, and multiple real estate value-add and opportunistic vehicles, alongside co-investments and add-ons.
Texas County & District Retirement System approved a $150M commitment to Ares Special Opportunities Fund III, signaling continued appetite for opportunistic private credit strategies.
Arkansas Teacher Retirement System committed across public equities, hedge funds, real estate, venture capital, and private equity co-investments, including $600M to Axiom Concentrated Growth Equity and $400M to Sands Capital Scaling Innovation Fund, while also approving the termination of Trian Partners, L.P.
New Jersey Division of Investment allocated $100M to Gridiron Capital Fund VI, $150M to Wind Point Partners XI-A, $350M to a Golub Capital separate account, $250M to Golub Capital co-investments, and $150M to ASF IX Infrastructure B, in addition to a $150M infrastructure co-investment sleeve.
Virginia Retirement System committed $300M to Leonard Green X and $250M to ACORE Credit Partners III, while also terminating a $236M Select Equity Cooper Square public equity mandate.
Teacher Retirement System of Texas approved multiple private equity and venture capital commitments, including allocations to LGP Co-Invest, Thrive Capital Partners X vehicles, Encore Consumer Capital Fund V, TA Investors Thunderbolt, Quantum Energy Partners IX-O, Quantum Quest SIF, and Blackstone Voltron Co-Invest, as well as a core infrastructure commitment to HarbourVest Hydro.
Houston Police Officers’ Pension System outlined 2026 pacing plans recommending $380M to private equity and $80M to real estate.
New Hampshire Retirement System adopted a 2026 alternatives pacing plan targeting approximately $800M across private equity, private credit, and infrastructure, including core and non-core infrastructure exposure.
Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association (LACERA) announced the appointment of Luis A. Lugo as CEO, following his prior service as Deputy CEO.
Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension promoted Kevin Fahey to Chief Investment Officer after 17 years with the organization, most recently serving as Managing Director of Private Markets.
Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) appointed Andreas Steimel to lead its real estate investment division on a transitional basis effective February 1, 2026.
Multiple plans disclosed manager renewals, watch list updates, and public equity adjustments, including high-yield portfolio updates at New York State Teachers’ Retirement System and lineup changes within defined contribution plans.

January 2026 Private Markets Review

Dakota — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:14:12 GMT

Key Market Indicators

LP Sentiment Continues to Improve: According to a recent McKinsey survey, 70% of LPs plan to maintain or increase PE allocations.
Venture Capital is in Demand: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) recently announced it had raised $15B+, capturing over 18% of total U.S. venture dollars.
Mega-Funds Returning: Large sponsors are coming back to market with flagship funds, including Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Francisco Partners.
Private Markets Consolidation: PE platforms continue to acquire specialist capabilities, highlighted by EQT’s $3.2B planned acquisition of Coller Capital and CVC’s $1.2B acquisition of Marathon Asset Management.

Liquidity is also improving. After several years of constrained exits, January saw meaningful acceleration in both announced IPOs and M&A activity. That matters. Realizations ultimately drive distributions, and distributions drive the next cycle of commitments. With over $312 billion in transaction value announced during the month, activity levels suggest capital is moving again.

January 2026 Fundraising Wrapped Report

Dakota — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:58:10 GMT

*Form D Filing count is focused on pooled investment vehicles only. This analysis includes only new notices, not amendments to previous filings

**This figure reflects the aggregate dollars reported in the “total amount sold” field.

***Dollar figure includes commitments that were disclosed and tracked in January (not necessarily when the commitment officially took place)

February 2026 Sports Investing Report

Dakota — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 16:25:04 GMT

A Well-Balanced Cap Table

Recent sports investing activity offered a little of everything, with capital showing up across the ownership spectrum – control, minority exposure, and new vehicles built to make sports easier to underwrite.

Dakota Global Family Office 2025 Report

Dakota — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 18:18:02 GMT

At a Glance

Executive Summary

January 2026 Public Pension Brief

Dakota — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:00:00 GMT

Highlights from January:

New York State Common Retirement Fund approved more than $2.3B in commitments across international equity, private equity, and real estate, including $700M each to Earnest Partners International Equity and Schroder International Equity Alpha, $300M to NYSCRF NB Co-Investment Fund III, and $300M to Artemis Real Estate Partners Healthcare Fund III, while also terminating a $2.6B Goldman Sachs public equity mandate.
Texas Municipal Retirement System disclosed over $1.4B in new allocations across private credit, real assets, private equity, infrastructure, and hedge funds, highlighted by $600M to LibreMax Structured Credit Fund, $200M to MW TOPS World Equities, $150M to PIMCO Specialty Finance Income Fund, and approximately $130M to ERA Blade Continuation Fund.
Minnesota State Board of Investment outlined a $4.3B private markets pacing plan for 2026, including $3.0B to private equity, $500M to private credit, and $300M each to real estate and real assets, signaling continued large-scale deployment across alternatives.
Maryland State Retirement & Pension System committed $325M across private equity buyout strategies, including $125M to Great Hill Equity Partners IX and $100M to HG Saturn 4, alongside a $25M allocation to Galvanize Real Estate Fund I.
Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds approved one of the largest pacing frameworks disclosed in January, targeting $2.75B each for private equity and private credit in 2026, $1.15B for real estate, and $800M for infrastructure and natural resources.
Teachers Retirement System of Texas approved approximately $1.1B in commitments across private equity, real estate, venture capital, and infrastructure, including $350M to Cerberus Proper Partners, $200M to Carlyle Global Infrastructure Opportunity Fund II, and multiple middle-market buyout funds.
Los Angeles County Employees’ Retirement Association approved new private equity and real estate allocations, including $150M to Dragoneer Opportunities Fund VII and $50M to a Partners Group real estate co-investment, while also expanding its emerging manager platform with up to $400M programs for real estate and real assets.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan announced the appointment of Jenny Hammarlund as Executive Managing Director of Real Estate, tasking her with leading the global real estate portfolio and strategy beginning January 2026.
Texas Teachers Retirement System, San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association, and Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund each disclosed updated 2026 pacing plans spanning private equity, private credit, real estate, and infrastructure, with individual targets ranging from $155M to over $735M.
Multiple public plans announced senior leadership changes, including Tom Masthay named CIO at Texas Municipal Retirement System, Monte Tarbox appointed interim CIO at New York City Comptroller’s Office, and Karl Cheng named CIO of the Wyoming State Treasurer’s Office.

Public Pension Private Markets Report: 2025 Review and Outlook

Dakota Research — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:25:04 GMT

Key Takeaways

Public pensions continued to commit significant capital to private markets in 2025.

December 2025 Healthcare Transactions Report

Dakota — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 17:56:39 GMT

Executive Summary

December 2025 capped off a steady year for healthcare investment. While total capital deployed dipped slightly, the overall pace of transactions held steady. Large-cap deals slowed, but middle-market and early-stage investments remained active, particularly in biotechnology, medtech, and digital health, per Dakota transaction data. Investors continued to back scalable innovation, essential infrastructure, and models built around value-based care.

December 2025 Software & Technology Transactions Report

Dakota — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 14:28:00 GMT

Executive Summary

December saw a downtrend in activity across the technology landscape compared to previous months, still led by a series of large-cap strategic acquisitions and late-stage financings focused on AI, cybersecurity, and digital infrastructure. At the top end of the market, ServiceNow’s acquisition of Armis for approximately $7.8 billion and Marvell’s $5.5 billion acquisition of Celestial AI underlined strong strategic appetite for assets enabling cyber exposure management and high-performance data center connectivity, respectively. Databricks’ $4.0 billion Series L financing, alongside sizable growth equity rounds for Brevo, Saviynt, and Harness, highlighted sustained investor conviction in AI-native data platforms, customer engagement software, and identity security at scale. In parallel, private equity sponsors remained active in IT services as well as software carve-outs and bolt-ons, exemplified by transactions involving Coastal Cloud and WGNSTAR. Sponsors also continued to consolidate niche enterprise technology and IT services platforms, including investments in ComunidadFeliz and PropertyMe.