, Columnist
That's Not Private Equity, That's a Pension Fund
Retirement plans cut out the middleman to acquire smaller and midsize businesses or invest directly in their private debt.
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Pension funds are in an increasingly tight spot. They face falling investment returns and a growing volume of bills as more employees near retirement.
So it's not surprising that they've been looking for innovative ways to juice returns. As a result, some of these funds, which were set up to cover health benefits and stipends to retired public service employees, are looking more like the private-equity funds in which they've invested historically.