US Public Pensions Committed $100.9 Billion to Private Equity in 2025, With CalPERS Taking $20 Billion
US public pension funds committed $100.9 billion to private equity strategies in 2025, a 24% increase from $81.2 billion in 2024. In the first half of 2026 they committed $31.9 billion. Fifty-one private equity managers raised capital for co-investment vehicles from public plans during 2025, which shows how much of the growth came through side vehicles as well as flagship funds.
The top of the league table is concentrated. CalPERS committed $20 billion across 93 mandates, CalSTRS committed $9 billion across 58 commitments and the New York State Common Retirement Fund committed $8.2 billion across 46 commitments.
How the three compare with the whole market
Measured by capital, the three plans account for $37.2 billion, or about 36.9% of the $100.9 billion total: CalPERS 19.8%, CalSTRS 8.9% and New York State 8.1%. The other public pensions in the tally share the remaining $63.7 billion, or 63.1%. The count of pensions in the dataset was not disclosed, so a share by number of plans cannot be stated. Among the three, however, CalPERS accounts for 93 of 197 mandates, or 47% of their combined count, while providing 54% of their combined capital.
Average ticket size tells a different story. CalPERS averaged about $215 million per mandate, New York State about $178 million and CalSTRS about $155 million. These are simple averages, and mandates include co-investments and separate accounts as well as fund commitments, so the typical commitment to a flagship fund may differ.
The pace for 2026 is lower so far. The $31.9 billion committed in the first half equals about 32% of the 2025 total, and doubling it gives roughly $64 billion for the year. A half-year figure is not directly comparable with a full-year total, so read it as a signal, not a forecast. A separate tally using a different method puts CalPERS at 62 mandates worth $13.6 billion in disclosed value through July 2026, against the 93 mandates in the 2025 count above. Because the two datasets measure different things, we do not compare them directly. For the latest example of a single plan's pace, see how CalSTRS committed more than $9 billion to private markets managers in the first half of 2026.
Concentration shows up on both sides of the market. Three plans supplied 36.9% of the capital, and, as the next section shows, two managers took about 8.3% of it. If the same shares held in 2026, which we cannot assume, the three plans would account for about $11.8 billion of the $31.9 billion committed in the first half. The point for GPs is not the exact figure but the dependence: a handful of large plans set the tone for the whole public pension market.
The managers behind the capital
Two managers stood out in the 2025 tally. Advent International raised $4.6 billion from public pensions, about 4.6% of the total, and had $109 billion of assets under management at 30 June 2026. Thoma Bravo raised $3.8 billion, about 3.8%, with $170 billion under management. Together they took about 8.3% of all public pension capital going to private equity, and Thoma Bravo's money came primarily from five plan relationships, including CalPERS, New York State and CalSTRS. Repeat relationships with the largest plans are the main engine of that concentration.
What GPs should do now
The market is open, but it is open to scale. A large plan that writes $150 million to $215 million tickets on average is effectively choosing managers that can absorb them, which favors established firms with large funds or multiple strategies. For a mid-market or first-time manager, the path into these plans is usually narrower: a co-investment vehicle, a specialist strategy that fills a gap in the plan's pacing, or an emerging manager program where one exists.
The co-investment number is the most useful for smaller managers. With 51 managers already raising vehicles from public plans in 2025, a co-investment sleeve is a normal way to start a relationship with a large pension fund before it considers a fund commitment. Our piece on why co-investors are the warmest route to fund LPs sets out how to structure that offer.
The ticket arithmetic also shapes which funds fit. If a plan wants to be no more than 10% of any fund, an illustrative ceiling and not a disclosed policy, the average tickets above imply funds of roughly $1.5 billion to $2.2 billion. Managers well below that range should look at emerging manager programs, separate accounts or co-investment sleeves where a smaller check carries more weight.
Expect heavy diligence. A plan with 93 mandates in a year has a standard process, so a complete questionnaire and reporting sample should be ready before the first call.
What to watch next
Watch whether the third-quarter commitment tally shows the pace recovering toward the 2025 level and whether the largest plans keep adding co-investment capacity. FundLinx members can see which public pensions are committing to private equity this quarter.
FundLinx Intelligence | FundLinx.ai