It is probably time to put to rest the question of whether, over nearly three decades, U.S. buyout shops have on average outperformed the public equity markets. They have.

SJF Ventures has held a final close on its $90 million for its third fund, raising more than three times the amount of its second fund, which totaled $28 million, the firm announced Thursday. Investors in the new fund include Citi, Deutsche Bank, MetLife, Prudential Financial, Cambridge Associates, Mercer Consulting, and Trillium Asset Management, SJF said in a press release.

Cleantech returns” is widely seen as an oxymoron. The belief is that nothing much has come from the tens of billions venture capital and private equity funds put into alternative energy and energy efficiency companies since the start of the investment boom.

Owing to low interest rates, pension plans that have increasingly turned to less risky, longer-duration, fixed-income assets may find themselves locking in very low future returns, says a new report out Cambridge Associates.

Venture capital returns creep ahead in fits and starts. Distributions to LPs, however, have gone through the roof. In the third quarter of 2012, they hit their highest level since 2001, and they look poised to go higher in the fourth quarter and beyond.

How are U.S. venture capital funds performing? Depends on which time frame one looks at, and whether one focuses on portfolio value or cash returns. But overall, new data from Cambridge Associates shows VC performance improving over a 10-year time frame but third- quarter write-downs weighed on results.

What a difference a year makes, at least when it comes to the venture industry’s 10-year performance numbers.

The Cambridge Associates “Australia Private Equity and Venture Capital Index” rose by 7.80%, net of fees, in the twelve months ending March 31, 2012, according to a quarterly report released by The Australian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association Ltd. For the March ending quarter, the index increased 1.43%, the fifth consecutive quarter of positive [...]

Cambridge Associates reports that limited partners received $93.6 billion from U.S. buyout funds in 2011, the largest annual amount it has recorded since it began tracking the data in 1986. Will the record distributions continue this year?

U.S. private equity investments outperformed the stock market in 2011 and distributions to investors reached a record as fund managers seized on an opportunity to sell long-held assets, reports market research firm Cambridge Associates.