A Pension Is Re-Tendering Its Private Equity Consultant: How to Write an Outreach Email That Survives a Consultant-Led Process
A California pension has put a private equity consultant search on its board agenda. Here is how to write to its staff and to the consultants, and what to leave out while the search runs.
On 14 October 2026 the Board of Investments of LACERA had an item on its agenda asking trustees to approve the minimum qualifications, evaluation criteria and scope of work for a private equity consultant request for proposals. The memo behind it is dated 18 September and was prepared by five members of the pension's private equity team. A consultant search does not change who at an LP decides whether to back your fund, but it can change who screens you, when staff are busiest and what you should avoid saying. This piece sets out how to write to the pension, and to the consultants, while a process like this runs. It is our advice, not guidance from LACERA, and the agenda does not say when the search will conclude. We cover the wider agenda in our note on what LACERA's board is weighing.
Start with the rules of the search
Public pension searches often come with contact restrictions, as our piece on what Massachusetts PRIM's open manager search teaches GPs about screens and quiet periods explains. When the RFP is published, read its contact rules and follow them to the letter. Keep any conversation with staff or trustees about your own fund and never about which consultant should win, and never ask a trustee to take your side. If you have a relationship with a bidder, keep it professional and do not discuss the pension's search with them. A breach can cost a bidder its place and does your fund no good.
Why the consultant changes your email
Where a consultant screens private equity managers, its research team often decides which funds reach the staff shortlist, so a good email serves two readers: the LP's staff, who recommend commitments, and the consultant's analysts, who write the view staff read first. The LACERA memo was prepared by a senior investment officer, two investment officers and two senior investment analysts, which suggests a staff team large enough to read a direct, well-prepared note. That is our reading of the agenda, not something the pension has said. It means you can write to staff directly, but you should assume the consultant will also see your numbers.
Write the staff email
Keep it short and make it specific. Put the strategy, fund size and fund number in the subject line, and open with one fact the reader can check. A workable first sentence reads: "[Fund name] is a [size] [strategy] fund, and our prior fund has returned [x] times invested capital with [y] of that already distributed." Follow with one line on why you are writing to this LP, tied to something public and dated, such as a commitment it announced, and not generic praise. LACERA's September report shows a $200 million real assets commitment and a $75 million co-investment, so a manager in those areas has an honest reason to say why the pension's recent activity is relevant. Close with a single ask, such as a 20-minute introduction or permission to send a DDQ. LPs rank speed of response among the factors that matter, as we set out in our piece on building outreach around response speed, so promise a reply window and keep it.
Prepare for the consultant
Keep a consultant-ready package in one folder: a current DDQ, a track record by vintage showing distributions to paid-in capital as well as total value, a fund-level cash flow history, and a short note on team changes. Our LP diligence pack guide lists what such a package normally holds. The rule that matters most is consistency. The figures in your email, your DDQ and any database entry should match to the decimal, because inconsistent numbers are an avoidable reason to lose credibility with both readers. Ask the consultant, once it is named, which research database or form it prefers you update, and do it promptly.
Time the outreach
Think in three windows. Before the RFP is released, keep the relationship warm with a short update on fund progress. While the search runs, send only fund-specific news at a low frequency and avoid anything that looks like lobbying. After the board selects a consultant, write to staff and to the new firm with your package, because new advisers usually want to meet managers early. The CIO's report in the same agenda tracks key-person changes at managers such as Hamilton Lane, DWS/RREEF and Blackstone, so include a clear succession statement in your package. The agenda also lists an information-only item on a co-investment data security incident, so be ready to describe how you protect co-investment data.
What to leave out
Leave out any claim about your rank or quartile that you cannot document, any comment on the incumbent adviser or the bidders, any request that touches the selection, and any copying of trustees on routine outreach. Do not attach large files to a first note. Attach nothing, offer the package and let the reader ask.
What to watch next
Watch for the RFP release and its timetable, and for the minutes of the 14 October meeting. FundLinx members can see which public pensions are reviewing advisers and managers this quarter.
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