Who's holding the bag?
The Pension Map
An interactive view of PE exposure across pensions, endowments, and allocators.
$718 billion of US pension money sits in private equity — assets whose values are reported by the managers who profit from them. University endowments carry the highest allocations (28–50%); public pensions follow; corporate pensions cluster at 6–13%. Norway's sovereign fund, by contrast, holds none.
Selected allocators by PE allocation
A representative selection from the full list of 200+ public pensions, endowments, corporate pensions, and union pension funds. Endowments carry the highest PE allocations (28–50%); corporate pensions cluster at 6–13%.
| Allocator | PE % | AUM | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yale University Endowment | 50% | $20.7B | Matt Mendelsohn, CIO |
| Harvard (HMC) | 41% | $21.3B | N.P. Narvekar, CEO |
| Princeton (PRINCO) | 38% | $13.6B | Vincent Tuohey |
| Stanford (SMC) | 33% | $12B | Robert Wallace, CEO |
| Oregon PERS | 26.9% | $26B | Rex Kim, CIO |
| Washington State Inv. Board | 24% | $51B | Chris Hanak, CIO |
| CalPERS | 17.7% | $98B | Stephen Gilmore, CIO |
| Texas Teachers (TRS) | 16.9% | $36B | Jase Auby, CIO |
| CalSTRS | 15.7% | $55B | Scott Chan, CIO |
| NY Common Retirement Fund | 14.9% | $41B | Anastasia Titarchuk, CIO |
| Florida SBA | 12% | $31B | Lamar Taylor, CIO |
| Central States Teamsters | 5% | $1.8B | — |
Oregon: the worst case
- 26.9% PE allocation — nearly 2x the national average.
- $3.7B lost to PE overallocation.
- PE returned 4.1% vs the Russell 3000's 38.4% over a comparison period.
- Treasury staff disregarded allocation policies; negative net cash flow from PE in 2023.
- Workers legally cannot learn which PE investments made or lost money.
- Reducing from 28% down to a 20% target.
Frequently asked questions
How much pension money is invested in private equity?
About $718 billion of US pension money, across 179 US and 96 global allocators.
Which pension has the highest PE allocation?
Oregon PERS at 26.9% among public pensions; endowments run higher — Yale 50%, Harvard 41%, Princeton 38%.
Does Norway's sovereign fund hold PE?
No — its roughly $1.7–2.1 trillion fund holds zero private equity.