Washington State Changes PE Consultant

Big news from the LP world, as we’ve learned that the $74 billion Washington State Investment Board has chosen Hamilton Lane as its new private equity consultant.

The pension system has around $13.5 billion in private equity assets, and had spent the past five years using Capital Dynamics (which, in turn, had taken over for Pacific Corporate Group).

In a statement sent over this morning, Capital Dynamics said two things of interest:

1. That it has been “encouraged” by WSIB to remain active in portfolio and risk management assignments, and
2. “We all recognize that no public institution can ignore significant potential for cost savings in the current environment.”

That last one is code for: Hamilton Lane offered to charge WSIB much less than we did…

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In unrelated Pacific Northwest LP news, the Oregonian on Saturday delved into the Oregon state pension system’s deep devotion to private equity.