Global pension funds were slightly below their target allocation to private equity in the first quarter of 2024.

The median target allocation across 344 pension funds globally was $276.4 million, and the median actual allocation was $272.8 million, reflecting a median net underallocation of $3.6 million as of April 2, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows.

By comparison, pension funds had a $13 million net overallocation to private equity Jan. 3.

New York State Common Retirement Fund topped the list of pension funds with actual allocation overshooting the target. The pension fund's net allocation, or the difference between its actual allocation and target, was $13.71 billion.

– Download a spreadsheet with data featured in this story. – Read about limited partner investment total in 2023. – Read about family office deployment to private equity.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas logged the largest underallocation. The pension fund's target was $44.50 billion and its actual allocation came to $32.73 billion as of April 2.

Largest allocation

California Public Employees' Retirement System had an actual private equity allocation that totaled $66.12 billion as of April 2, the largest among global pension fund allocation in the analysis. The fund typically invests between $50 million and $500 million, according to Market Intelligence data.

California State Teachers' Retirement System followed with $50.78 billion.

The top 10 pension funds with the largest allocation to private equity have a combined actual allocation of $314.23 billion compared to their combined target allocation of $288.66 billion.