Venture capital has been an under performing asset class, but firms can no longer use the past decade’s lack of liquidity as an excuse for poor performance. This was one message from a panel of limited partners at the Venture Capital Investing Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.

Awarepoint Corp., the real-time location system services provider for healthcare clients, has added $14 million in funding. Heritage Group led the round and was joined by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Cardinal Partners, Venrock, Jafco Ventures, Avalon Ventures, New Leaf Venture Partners and Top Tier Capital Partners. PRESS RELEASE: Awarepoint Raises $14 Million in Additional [...]

Top Tier Capital Partners said Wednesday that it has hired Sean Warren to lead its compliance and legal effort. Warren will be Top Tier’s counsel and chief compliance officer. Warren was previoulsy the president and COO of Robertson Stephens Asset Management.

Waste Management, the Texas-based sanitation and recycling company, has made a strategic investment in Recycle Rewards, and its subsidiary, Recyclebank, which tethers discounts to green “action” by consumers. With the investment, from which terms were not specified, Waste Management joins existing Recyclebank investors RRE Ventures, Sigma Partners, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, The Westly Group, Generation Investment Management, Top Tier Capital Partners, Physic Ventures and Craton Equity Partners.

Awarepoint Corp. said Wednesday that it has closed $27 million in Series F financing. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers led the round while Top Tier Capital Partners also invested. Existing investors Cardinal Partners, Venrock, and Jafco Ventures also participated. Awarepoint, of San Diego, provides real-time location systems for U.S. hospitals.

Since the fall of 2008, LPs haven’t shown much appetite for stakes in either venture capital or buyout firms. It’s hard to blame them. Having overdosed on both earlier in the decade, they paid dearly for it once the global economic crisis struck, their public market holdings shriveled, and they were caught with a superabundance [...]

Private equity asset management firm Paul Capital Advisors has announced a management-led change in ownership, and will now be known as Top Tier Capital Partners. Both Paul Capital Advisors and the Bank of Ireland have sold their respective equity interests in the firm. Effective immediately, all business activity of the restructured firm will be undertaken using the new name. Top Tier Capital Partners’ management will continue running day-to-day operations. And in the near term, Top Tier Capital Partners will co-locate with Paul Capital Advisors and share certain back-office functions, the firm said in a statement.