Global pension fund involvement in M&A and fundraising activity was strong in the first quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Pension fund sponsors invested in 24 disclosed transactions for a total of $15.17 billion in the first three months of the year. That compares to investing in 37 deals for a total of $11.09 billion in the first quarter of 2022.

So far, pension fund investments are on track to exceed the $24.7 billion figure logged for full year 2022.

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Top transactions

Private equity was an investor in seven of the 10 largest transactions that involved pension funds during the first quarter.

The biggest was Canada Pension Plan Investment Board joining with Silver Lake Technology Management LLC to acquire experience management software company Qualtrics International Inc. for $10.44 billion. That transaction is expected to close in the second half of the year.

In the second-largest deal of the quarter, an investor group including Public Sector Pension Investment Board and EQT AB (publ) agreed to buy telecommunication services company Radius Global Infrastructure Inc. for $3 billion.

Next was Canada Pension Plan Investment Board's participation in Netskope Inc.'s convertible debt round of funding that raised $401 million for the application software company. Goldman Sachs Asset Management International, Morgan Stanley Tactical Value Investing and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board were also part of the investor group.

Sector exposure

The technology, media and telecommunications sector attracted the most pension fund investment in the first quarter, with a total deal value of $14 billion. The financials and energy sectors followed with $320 million and $270 million, respectively.