Buyouts Buoy CalPERS Returns

No wonder buyout shops are managing to raise more money now than ever before. They’re outperforming VCs for every vintage year since 2001, at least according to the latest returns posted by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

Buyout funds represent the top three performers in the pension fund’s Alternative Investment Management Program for every vintage year since 2001.

However, the pension fund’s top all-time performers, in terms of cash on cash multiples, remain VC firms. Information Technology Ventures I, a 1995 vintage fund that caught the Internet boom just as it was taking off, returned $138.6 million, or 5.5 times CalPERS’ $25 million investment, according to the data through Sept. 30, 2006. The fund was managed by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Information Technology Ventures, which is no longer active.

Media/Communications Partners II, a 1992 vintage fund, managed by Boston-based M/C Venture Partners, returned $110 million, or 4.4 times CalPERS’ investment of $25 million.

PE Week subscribers can get more here.

Or you can trudge through the spreadsheets I built and come to your own conclusions [CalPERS Returns Data XLS]. Notice anything interesting? Let me know.