SageSpring has sprung from RayJay to Dynasty, and more...

Good Morning. Institutional allocators continue to make significant commitments across private markets, with the Illinois Police Officers Pension Investment Fund deploying $390M into a customized private credit platform managed by Oaktree, while Baltimore ERS and Medford CRS advance their consultant and manager searches. Wealth management firms are also making strategic moves, as SageSpring Wealth Partners leaves Raymond James for Dynasty Financial Partners, and The Wealth Alliance secures minority investments to drive its M&A expansion. In private funds, Colesco Capital raised €800M at the first close of its climate debt fund, and Manulife Investment closed its Forest Climate Fund with $480.1M in commitments. Meanwhile, impact investing sees consolidation, with Foresight Group acquiring WHEB to enhance its sustainable investment platform. Let’s dive into the latest developments across institutional allocators, wealth managers, and private markets.

Institutional Allocator News

The Illinois Police Officers Pension Investment Fund (IPOPIF) committed $390M to a customized private credit platform managed by Oaktree Capital Management and is in the final round of its private markets consultant search, with Verus, Callan, Albourne, and Wilshire as finalists. Medford CRS launched a $10M search for US small-cap value managers, requiring a 10-year track record and $750M AUM in the strategy.

Baltimore ERS narrowed its alternatives consultant search to two finalists, Meketa and RVK. Meketa currently serves as private equity consultant for the $2.1B pension under an extended term. Meanwhile, Chicago LABF looks to add to their $1.4B portfolio with their commitment of $10M to Levine Leichtman VII, citing strong returns from prior investments in the fund series.

Taunton CRS invested $7M in Mass PRIM’s 2025 private equity program while eliminating its international fixed income allocation, leading to the termination of PIMCO as manager. The pension will reallocate the funds to current manager, Manulife, and is actively finalizing a revised target allocation for the fund manager. Wayne County ERS allocated an additional $5M to Marathon Asset Management for its CMBS portfolio, increasing its total commitment to $25M. The follow-on investment was recommended by the pension fund's general consultant, Titan Wealth Advisors.

Wealth Allocator News

SageSpring Wealth Partners left Raymond James to join Dynasty Financial Partners’ platform, making the move to full independence with $6.4B in assets under management. The switch came with the announcement of SageSpring's intention to grow organically and expand into the multifamily office sector. The Wealth Alliance secured minority investments from Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC’s Aspire Holdings, fueling its M&A growth strategy focused on the Tri-State area, Mid-Atlantic region, and South Florida.

A group of former Forum Financial advisors launched Bridge Generations Wealth Management, leading an eight-member team managing $250M in client assets. Operating out of Miami and Salt Lake City, Bridge Generations is a fee-based wealth management firm that offers investment management and consultant services. LPL announced that Wintrust Financial Corporation has fully integrated its wealth management assets to the firm's institution services platform. The agreement, signed in February 2024, brings on approximately 90 advisors servicing $16B in client assets. Arax Investment Partners expanded its Mountain West footprint with the acquisition of $1B RIA Cedrus Financial, a multifamily office that provides financial planning, portfolio management and advisor selection services to high-net-worth clients in Colorado and Idaho. The recent addition follows its $1.7B acquisition of SRS Capital Advisors in 2024.

Mission Wealth entered the Houston market with the acquisition of $400M RIA Logic Capital, its largest integration to date. The addition of Logic brings Mission's total client count to over 3,900, with a total AUM of $10.6B. Cetera’s Avantax acquired $180M affiliate Sweeney Kovar, marking it as the first acquisition of Avantax in the new year. The deal comes as a succession strategy for founders Kevin Sweeney and Joseph Kovar in order to continue providing top-level service to the firm's clients.

Lastly in Wealth Allocator News, the Carson Group recruited a $365M team from Wells Fargo, while Merrill Lynch brought in two advisors from UBS and Morgan Stanley, each managing $130M in client assets.

Private Fund News

Dutch private credit firm Colesco Capital secured €800M (~$834.5M) at the first close of its debut climate debt fund. The sustainable investing-focused fund is aiming to raise €1B to €1.5B in total capital. Manulife Investment Management closed its Forest Climate Fund with $480.1M, deploying capital into over 150,000 acres of US forestland. Through the Forest Climate Fund, Manulife aims to provide investors with the opportunity to gain carbon credits from owning a diversified portfolio comprising assets that could help mitigate climate change and sequester more than 6 million tons of CO2 over the fund's term.

Singapore-based Tanglin Venture Partners filed with the SEC to raise $250M for its third flagship VC fund, planning to invest in Series A fundraisings with allocations of up to $8M per transaction. Tanglin has secured the assistance of Marcena Capital and Alpine Capital Advisors in marketing the fund both in the US and internationally.

AXA IM Alts raised €230M (~$239.9M) for its first ELTIF 2.0 private credit fund, focusing on European mid-sized companies. AXA IM Alts' recently launched private credit fund is currently only available to investors in France. Forbion surpassed its €150M (~$156.4M) target at the second close of its biotech fund, bringing total capital raised to €164.5M (~$171.5M) and nearing its €200M hard cap.

Lastly in Private Fund News, Meaningful Partners closed its second consumer-focused fund at $150M, increasing its total AUM to $500M. The LA-based, private equity firm's fund targets lower-middle-market and growth companies in the consumer sector.

Other News

Houston-based sustainability investor Bridgeway Capital Management announced the appointment of Seema Ackerman, former BlackRock OCIO head, as its new distribution and marketing lead. Her new responsibilities include expanding the firm's distribution channels, marketing initiatives, messaging, and client services. London-based impact investors WHEB and Foresight Group announced a merger, doubling Foresight’s impact investing assets under management. The deal will integrate WHEB's team, including all three partners, into FCM while continuing to manage WHEB investment strategies.

On the Move

Job Changes

Ben Weintraub - Associate, Investments
Firm Left: CAZ Investments
Firm Joined: Allocate

Robert Cheung - Analyst
Firm Left: Hamilton Lane Advisors
Firm Joined: Blackstone

Role Changes

• Dan Wood promoted to Investment Consultant at XPS Pensions Group PLC
• Aiman El-Nahas promoted to Senior Principal, Private Debt Lead at University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP)
• Moshmi Kamdar promoted to Head of Equity Advisory at Union Bancaire Privée
• Amrit Dhillon promoted to Principal, Investments at Thomvest Asset Management

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