Profits from Pets

Millennials love their pets. This trend has led to explosive growth in the U.S. Pet Industry -- to the tune of more than $60 billion in annual sales. In this installment of Perspectives, NAIC's online video series, Oscar Decotelli, CEO and Founding Partner of Rio de Janeiro-based DXA Investments, explains how capitalizing on this trend led to the acquisition, global expansion and sale of a Brazilian pet products business that allowed DXA to return more than 12X to limited partners.

Institutional Investor Robert Feinstein Confirmed for NAIC Private Equity and Hedge Fund Conference!

Please join us on October 23-24 for the NAIC Private Equity and Hedge Fund Conference – the largest gathering of diverse-owned asset management firms – at UCLA’s Luskin Conference Center for the latest industry news, trends and access to capital allocators representing trillions of dollars. Among this year’s confirmed participants is Robert Feinstein, Managing Director for the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission (RSIC) investment team.

Feinstein will be one of the featured speakers for Allocator Exchange: A Deep Dive into Private Equity. This not-to-be-missed session offers an excellent opportunity to engage with institutional investors to gain an understanding of their portfolio objectives, market and performance expectations, how alternatives fit into their plans, and what PE teams can do to separate themselves from the pack. With more than 590,000 members and $32 billion in total assets, RSIC has exclusive authority for investing and managing all assets held in trust for the participants and beneficiaries of the five state defined benefit plans.

NEPC Announces New Diverse Manager Policy

NEPC, an independent investment consultant and private wealth advisor, announced a new diverse manager policy that outlines specific short-term and long-term goals for increasing NEPC’s engagement with diverse managers. NEPC’s new diverse manager policy is a testament to the firm’s commitment to work toward an inclusive and diverse future by outlining the following goals:

• Increase the number of meetings with diverse firms by 10% in 2020.
• By year-end 2021, NEPC’s goal is to have diverse managers represent 10% of managers on the firm’s focused placement list, which is comprised of managers given a high rating (1 or 2) by NEPC. This represents a 67% increase over the current level of representation.
• Where a diverse manager rated 1 or 2 is available, NEPC will make best efforts to include a diverse manager in searches.
• Address responsiveness to diverse managers by providing preliminary feedback within three months of initial contact.
• Implement accountability toward these diversity targets within the goal-setting and evaluation process for the Research team and Diverse Managers Committee.

Member Focus: Laurel Oaks’ New Plan for Old Economy Businesses

A recent addition to the NAIC membership, Laurel Oaks Capital Partners is in the process of completing its first two acquisitions – a transportation and logistics business and an intermodal carrier business – that will form the foundation of its investment strategy. Led by Rena Clark and Emanuel Slater, Laurel Oaks is an independent sponsor that looks to acquire controlling interests in operating companies in the industrial lower middle market sector. In this report, we take a look at this young firm, its investment strategy and what the team likes so much about transportation and logistics.