The Rise of the Total Portfolio Approach
The Rise of the Total Portfolio Approach In November 2025, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) made headlines among allocators in formally adopting the “total portfolio approach” (TPA) investment model, replacing the strategic asset allocation (SAA) model it had previously used for investment decision-making. Guiding this choice in part was a study reporting a […]
Exit Stage Right: Private Equity’s Path Back to Liquidity
Exit Stage Right: Private Equity’s Path Back to Liquidity The private equity market has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past several years. Following the industry’s boom in 2021—fueled by cheap debt, abundant liquidity, and a surge in deal activity following hopes that the worst of the global pandemic was past—rising interest rates and tightening […]
Do First-Time Funds Warrant a “Flight to Safety?” Evidence from PE and VC
Do First-Time Funds Warrant a “Flight to Safety?” Evidence from PE and VC Amid a broader private markets slowdown, heightened uncertainty has prompted LPs to shift capital toward established managers in a “flight to safety,” posing fundraising challenges for first-time funds. First-time private equity (PE) funds’ share of total PE fundraising fell from 5.9% in […]
Measuring What Matters: Benchmarking for the Year Ahead
As a new year begins, allocators face a deceptively simple question: How do we measure success in a market that keeps changing?
In public markets, benchmarking is straightforward. Returns are compared against widely accepted indices. Risk is assessed through volatility and expected loss. Performance can be observed daily.
Private markets are different.
From Data to Decisions: The Role of Research in Private Market Strategy
Private markets are opaque. Performance assessment is complex. Reporting is inconsistent. Every allocator faces unique constraints. In this environment, sound decisions are grounded in empirical analysis rather than intuition alone.
How Institutional Allocators Can Gain Clarity in Private Markets
Private markets play an increasingly central role in institutional portfolios. For pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, and family offices, private capital offers the potential for differentiated returns, diversification, and long term value creation. Yet these benefits come with real complexity.
Forecasting the Future: How Simulation Models Are Transforming Private Market Strategy
Private market investing is fundamentally about the future. Capital is committed today in anticipation of cash flows, valuations, and outcomes that may unfold over a decade or more. Yet for decades, the tools used to guide these decisions have remained anchored in the past.
Josh Lerner Featured on CAIA’s Educational Alpha Podcast
Joining CAIA Association CEO Bill Kelly, Josh Lerner kicked off season two of CAIA’s Educational Alpha podcast. Covering private equity topics from commitment strategies to generative AI’s place in private markets, Josh and Bill touch on a number of important questions throughout the episode. Josh also covers industry breakthroughs including advances in cash flow forecasting […]
Private Debt: Seeking Alpha in the Lower Middle Market
In this new whitepaper, commissioned by Heard Capital, Bella Private Markets investigates trends and opportunities in the lower middle market (LMM) of the private debt industry. Private debt fundraising has expanded considerably over the past decade, in part due to regulations that constrain bank lending and interest rate trends. This growth has paralleled and supported […]
AAPI-Owned Firms’ Access to Emerging Manager Programs
Continuing our collaboration with the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) on Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) representation in private markets, a new report was recently released focusing on AAPI-owned firms’ access to emerging manager programs and representation in institutional investor portfolios. Our findings indicate that despite strong performance of AAPI-owned firms, they […]