Alternatives dominate large pension funds’ year-to-date hiring

Pension funds with at least $1 billion in assets had net hirings of $80.5 billion this year through Aug. 7, based on data collected by Pensions & Investments. Alternatives totaled more than $68 billion, 85% of total manager hirings, with private equity leading the way with $27.4 billion in activity. Fixed-income mandates were $13.8 billion.

Buyout funds accounted for 50% of private equity hirings, $13.7 billion. The other five categories ranged from $413 million to $4.9 billion.

Private credit mandates totaled $14.3 billion. Direct lending hirings were $5.5 billion, representing 39% of the private credit total.