What TBED investors need to know about exits

The venture capital market is undergoing significant structural changes, and TBED organizations are under increasing pressure to adjust existing and develop new strategies to meet evolving market conditions and address emerging gaps. For TBED investors, modeling how long investments must be held and what the exit paths are is critical for setting expectations with stakeholders, projecting fund utilization, and anticipating returns that can be reinvested. To that end, SSTI examined over 6,000 exits from VC-backed companies listed in PitchBook with identified nonprofit or government investments to characterize what TBED investors can expect. Our analysis found that it is taking more time and more rounds for companies to find successful exits, putting additional pressure on venture development organization (VDO) and other TBED portfolios by consuming scarce resources and limiting opportunities to reinvest proceeds. 

Entrenched parties, resistance to change, stifling economic opportunities in ESG

By April of 2023, state legislatures had filed 99 anti-ESG bills, according to Reuters. Many of these bills are motivated by the perception that investors who prioritize environmental, social, and governance (ESG) compliance by companies in which they are investing are imposing their political beliefs on others.

New SEC regulations on investments related to China

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released guidance through its Division of Corporation Finance to address the risks of investing in companies that are based in or have a majority of their business operations in the People’s Republic of China. This action continues a trend of expanding regulation of investments related to China, and the SEC’s statement clarifies that the purpose of the disclosures is to protect investors from recently-enacted restrictions by the Chinese government on China-based companies in regard to raising capital from foreign investors.

More than $1B in new state and local initiatives for clean energy announced

New York City and the state of Illinois have both made moves recently to shift more of their economies to clean energy.

New York City and the state of Illinois have both made moves recently to shift more of their economies to clean energy. Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced a 15-year, $191 million Offshore Wind Vision (OSW) plan to make New York City a leading destination for the offshore wind industry.  Last month, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed sweeping legislation offering new incentives for the adoption of clean energy and aim to move it to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. And Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker is looking to use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money to establish a clean energy investment fund.

University endowments see uncertain success in returns from alternative assets

Across the United States, universities’ endowments have seen a large return in their portfolios in the past year, according to a recent PitchBook report. This trend was most notable in well-known universities with large endowments. The University of North Carolina reported a 42.3 percent return, Duke University reported a 56 percent return, and Washington University in St. Louis reported a 65 percent return. These gains are largely attributed to their investments in alternative assets like venture capital and private equity.