Every capital raising conversation starts with the same question: who is actually writing checks, and how much are they allocating? This page consolidates institutional investor allocation data across LP segments, using only figures we could trace to a published source. Where no public figure exists, we say so instead of estimating.
The headline: LP capital is available but slow to turn over. Preqin counted 3,184 private capital funds closing in 2024, down from 4,204 in 2023, and $1.10 trillion raised, down 23.5% from $1.44 trillion (Preqin, Feb 17, 2025). Bain puts 2025 private capital fundraising at about $1.3 trillion, roughly flat with 2024, with distributions at about 14% of NAV (Bain Global Private Equity Report 2026). The pace, the decision process, and the check sizes vary enormously by investor type.
Allocation by investor type (overview table)
| Investor Type | What the sourced data shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Endowments (over $5B) | 62.2% in alternative and other strategies | NACUBO-Commonfund, FY2025 |
| Endowments ($1-5B) | 48.0% | NACUBO-Commonfund, FY2025 |
| Endowments ($501M-$1B) | 37.9% | NACUBO-Commonfund, FY2025 |
| Endowments (under $50M) | 11.9% | NACUBO-Commonfund, FY2025 |
| Family offices | Private markets at 21% of portfolios in 2024 | UBS Global Family Office Report 2025 |
| Insurance companies | $9.6 trillion in cash and invested assets, 64% at life insurers | NAIC, year-end 2025 |
| Public pensions, sovereign wealth funds | No citable aggregate; use each plan’s own filings | n/a |
Sources: NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments, FY2025 summary asset allocations (dollar-weighted averages as of June 30, 2025; “alternative and other strategies” combines hedge funds, absolute return, private equity, venture capital, secondaries, sustainable investments, and real assets, so it overstates private equity alone); UBS, May 21, 2025; NAIC Capital Markets Bureau.
These are averages. Within each category, the range is wide. A $500B sovereign wealth fund and a $50B sovereign wealth fund operate like different species. The table gives you a starting framework; the sections below give you the data to refine your LP targeting.
Pension fund allocations
Pension funds are among the largest LP segments. We could not find a published, citable share of global PE commitments, so this page does not state one.
Scale of the market
Public pension systems range from the largest state systems to small municipal plans. The largest, including CalPERS, CalSTRS, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund, run sizable private equity programs. Corporate (private-sector) plans are subject to ERISA fiduciary standards, while governmental plans are generally exempt. Read each plan’s investment policy for its PE target range.
Allocation data
| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cambridge Associates US PE Index, 10-year pooled net return (to June 30, 2026) | 15.01% | Cambridge Associates |
| Cambridge Associates US PE Index, 20-year pooled net return | 12.88% | Cambridge Associates |
| MSCI World/ACWI mPME, 20-year | 9.50% (index outperformed by 338bp) | Cambridge Associates |
| Standard fee terms | 1.5-2.0% mgmt / 8% pref / 20% carry | Industry standard |
Source: Cambridge Associates US Private Equity Index and Selected Benchmark Statistics, June 30, 2026. Returns are net to limited partners; the mPME compares private fund cash flows with a public index.
Allocation varies by plan size and governance capacity. Small municipal plans often have limited staff for private markets, so read each plan’s investment policy statement for its target range and pacing plan.
Emerging manager programs
Many large public pensions run emerging manager programs, usually defined by fund number (Fund I-III) or firm size. Carve-out sizes, definitions, and processes differ by plan, so check each plan’s policy. Programs worth researching include:
- Illinois SURS
- New York State Common Retirement Fund
- Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS)
For fund managers building a first-fund track record, pension emerging manager programs can be a meaningful source of institutional checks.
Endowment allocations
University endowments pioneered the alternatives-heavy approach now known as the Yale Model, and the largest remain the most aggressively allocated LP segment.
The size divide
The allocation gap between large and small endowments is the widest of any LP segment:
| Endowment Size | Alternative and other strategies |
|---|---|
| Over $5B | 62.2% |
| $1-5B | 48.0% |
| $501M-1B | 37.9% |
| $250-500M | 31.4% |
| $101-250M | 24.8% |
| $50-100M | 15.4% |
| Under $50M | 11.9% |
Source: NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments, FY2025 (average allocations as of June 30, 2025).
Individual endowments publish their own allocations in annual reports, so check the current report for any endowment you are targeting rather than relying on a secondhand average.
Why the gap matters
Allocation to alternatives rises steeply with endowment size, from 11.9% for endowments under $50 million to 62.2% for those over $5 billion. Larger endowments have the staff and relationships to access private funds; smaller endowments often cannot.
For GPs, this creates a practical targeting question. Large endowments are high-value LPs but hard to access without existing relationships. Mid-size endowments with smaller teams are often more accessible, which can make them a productive segment for LP outreach.
Family office allocations
Family offices are the most heterogeneous LP segment.
Allocation data
UBS’s 2025 Global Family Office Report surveyed 317 single family offices across more than 30 markets from January to April 2025. It reports private markets at 21% of portfolios in 2024. Families planning changes in 2025 expected to lower that to 18% on average, mainly through direct investments (UBS, May 21, 2025). The figure covers private markets, not private equity alone.
What makes family offices different
Speed. A single-family office with a motivated principal can move quickly, because there is typically no external board or consultant to satisfy. Timelines vary widely, but they are usually shorter than the multi-step approval process at a public pension.
Generational thinking. Family offices managing dynastic wealth often think in multi-decade horizons. PE’s illiquidity is a feature, not a bug. They can tolerate J-curves better than many LP segments because they have no actuarial obligations or quarterly redemption windows.
Concentration tolerance. Family offices can take concentrated positions in individual funds in a way pension fund investment policies often do not allow.
Check sizes. Check sizes vary widely with the size of the office and the fund, so ask each office about its range.
The access challenge
The challenge with family offices is identification, not persuasion. There is no public filing requirement. No FOIA database. No mandatory disclosure. Many maintain no public presence at all. Building a family office pipeline requires network-based sourcing, which is where tools like an institutional investor database and structured investor relationship management become essential.
Sovereign wealth fund allocations
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are state-owned investment funds with some of the largest check sizes in the LP universe. Public data on their private equity allocations is limited, and allocations differ widely by fund.
Classification note
CPP Investments, which is sometimes grouped with sovereign funds, manages the Canada Pension Plan. It is a pension fund manager that operates at arm’s length from the Canadian government and is not considered a sovereign wealth fund (source). It belongs with the pension funds above, not in a sovereign wealth fund table.
The co-investment shift
Many sovereign funds and large pensions have built direct and co-investment programs, bypassing traditional fund structures for part of their private equity exposure. As a result, they increasingly evaluate you not just as a fund manager but as a deal sourcing partner. Offering co-investment rights is often part of the conversation when courting sovereign capital.
Commitment sizes
SWF commitments are among the largest in the LP universe. Concentration limits mean a very large check is rarely a fit for a small fund, so SWFs are usually relevant targets for larger funds.
Insurance company allocations
The NAIC reports that U.S. insurers held $9.6 trillion in cash and invested assets at year-end 2025, with life insurers accounting for 64% (NAIC Capital Markets Bureau). Private equity sits within the NAIC’s Schedule BA category of other long-term investments, which was 6.7% of the total, or $639 billion, and its treatment is shaped by risk-based capital rules.
Regulatory constraints
Insurance company PE allocations are shaped by risk-based capital (RBC) charges, which are higher for PE investments than for investment-grade bonds. A $100M PE allocation requires more regulatory capital than an equivalent allocation to investment-grade bonds. This structural headwind limits how aggressively insurers can pursue PE returns.
| Insurance Type | Regulatory Framework |
|---|---|
| Life Insurance | State insurance regulations, RBC charges, long-duration liabilities |
| Property & Casualty | State insurance regulations, shorter liability duration |
| Reinsurance | Regimes differ for offshore reinsurers |
Growth drivers
Two factors are drawing insurers toward private markets:
-
Search for yield. Insurers look for yield beyond public fixed income, and some have built private equity and private credit programs.
-
Affiliated models. Apollo’s affiliation with Athene created a template that KKR (Global Atlantic) and Brookfield (American Equity) have followed, tying insurance balance sheets to PE-affiliated managers.
Many insurers that started with private credit allocations (which carry lower RBC charges) have expanded into PE equity as their alternatives teams gained experience and comfort.
For fund managers, insurance LPs often set minimum fund sizes in their investment policies, so check each insurer’s policy before spending time on the relationship.
LP commitment trends
Beyond individual allocations, several macro trends are reshaping how institutional capital flows into PE.
Distributions and re-ups
LPs have leaned toward managers they already know as distributions slowed. Bain reports LPs were cash-flow negative for four of the five years through 2023, and distributions as a share of NAV have held below 15% for four years running, at about 14% in 2025 (Bain 2024; Bain 2026). We could not find a published, citable share of commitments that go to existing managers, so this page does not state one.
What this means in practice: with less cash coming back, LPs have less to commit to new relationships, so first-time managers face more competition for each dollar. Differentiation and warm introductions matter more.
Secondary market growth
LPs are increasingly using secondaries to manage liquidity, rebalance portfolios, and exit underperforming relationships without waiting for natural fund wind-downs. For GPs, this means your LP base may turn over mid-fund, which is why DPI has become a more important metric than ever.
Co-investment expansion
Many institutional LPs, from pensions to SWFs to family offices, now ask for co-investment rights, and many have built teams to evaluate and execute co-investments.
ESG and impact
European LPs have generally set stricter ESG requirements, driven by regulation such as the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. For GPs targeting European pensions, insurance companies, or development finance institutions, a credible ESG framework is a prerequisite, not a differentiator.
Geographic distribution of LP capital
Cambridge Associates reports that US-based PE funds raised $164B through September 30, 2025, on pace for the weakest year since 2020, and that US funds secured two-thirds of global PE capital raised year to date, compared with an average of 60% in the five years ended 2024 (Cambridge Associates, Q3 2025).
LP selection criteria
Institutional LPs consistently emphasize track record, team stability and continuity, strategy differentiation, GP commitment, operational value creation capability, fee terms and alignment, and an ESG or responsible investment framework. We have not found a published survey with a defensible percentage ranking, so this page does not rank the criteria by share of LPs.
The DPI shift
LPs have put more weight on DPI (distributions to paid-in capital) over IRR in recent years. The reason is straightforward. After 2022, many LPs sat on large unrealized portfolios with impressive IRRs but minimal cash returns, and Bain reports distributions at about 14% of NAV in 2025 (Bain 2026). DPI measures what actually came back.
For GPs, the implication is clear: paper markups matter less than they used to. LPs want to see DPI vs IRR data in your pitch deck, and they want the DPI numbers to be strong.
The bottom line
- LP capital is available but slow to turn over: Preqin counted 3,184 private capital funds closing in 2024 against 4,204 in 2023, and Bain puts 2025 private capital fundraising at about $1.3 trillion, roughly flat with 2024.
- Allocation to alternatives rises steeply with endowment size: NACUBO-Commonfund reports 11.9% for endowments under $50 million and 62.2% for those over $5 billion (FY2025).
- Family offices are an accessible but opaque segment: UBS reports private markets at 21% of family office portfolios in 2024. Decision cycles are usually shorter than at pensions, but identification takes network-based sourcing.
- Distributions drive LP behavior: Distributions have held below 15% of NAV for four years running (Bain), which raises the bar for new managers and puts a premium on differentiation and warm introductions.
- Co-investment, secondaries, and direct investing are reshaping the GP-LP relationship from a pure fund commitment model toward a multi-channel capital partnership.
Build your LP pipeline with our LP directory and track relationships in your investor relationship management system. For a deeper dive on any segment, see our guides on pension fund PE allocations, institutional allocation trends, family offices in PE, and how to get LP meetings.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage do pension funds allocate to private equity?
Allocations vary widely by plan. Each public pension sets a target range for private equity in its investment policy, which is a public document. Check the plan's current policy, pacing plan, and recent commitments rather than relying on an industry average. We could not trace a published industry average to a primary source, so this page does not state one.
How much do family offices allocate to private equity?
UBS's 2025 Global Family Office Report (317 single family offices surveyed from January to April 2025) reports private markets at 21% of portfolios in 2024. Families planning changes in 2025 expected to lower that to 18% on average, mainly through direct investments. The figure covers private markets, not private equity alone.
What percentage of LP commitments go to existing GP relationships?
We could not find a published, citable share of LP commitments that go to existing managers, so this page does not state one. What the data does show is a cash-constrained LP base: Bain reports distributions as a share of NAV have held below 15% for four years running, with about 14% in 2025. That is the backdrop for the caution many LPs show toward new relationships.
Do pension funds invest in emerging managers?
Many large public pensions run emerging manager programs, usually defined by fund number (Fund I-III) or firm size. Carve-out sizes, definitions, and processes differ by plan, so review each plan's investment policy and manager search calendar.
