Taiwan-based China Life Insurance Company has approved a total of $50 million in commitment to the funds managed by private equity firms StepStone and Insight Partners, adding to the more than $100 million that the life insurance firm has committed so far this year.
In separate disclosures, China Life said it has committed to invest $30 million in Insight Partners XI LP and another $20 million in StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund IV. Early this year, the insurance firm committed $20 million each to TA XII, Blackstone Capital Partners VIII, and Strategic Partners Fund VIII.
It also approved a $30-million commitment to French Private Equity firm Ardian’s latest buyout fund and another $25 million into Veritas Capital’s seventh fund.
Insight Partners XI invests in software, enabled services, and Internet businesses, primarily in the US and Europe.
New York-based Insight Partners has set out to raise $7.5 billion for its 11th flagship vehicle, which will invest between $10 million and $150 million in target companies. The latest vehicle followed the close of the firm’s 10th fund in 2018 with a $6.3-billion commitment.
It has so far received commitments from institutional investors and pension funds, including $150 million from Texas Teacher Retirement System, $75 million from Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System, and $200 million from Washington State Investment Board.
Insight Partners has so far made nearly 400 investments and 96 exits. The firm’s most notable exits include Twitter, Delivery Hero, and Shopify.
On the other hand, China Life Insurance said it has committed $20 million to StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund IV, the latest vehicle of US-based global private markets firm StepStone.
China Life Insurance said the $20-million commitment amounts to 1.2 per cent of the total target corpus of StepStone’s Fund IV, which further confirms reports that the firm is raising at least $1 billion for its latest vehicle.
Its first fund – Green Park International Investors – raised $200 million in 2003. This was followed by StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund II, which raised $450 million. Fund II, according to Crunchbase data, only raised $93.9 million.
Early this week, StepStone and Australian superannuation fund HESTA acquired part of Blackbird Ventures’s first fund for A$100 million ($69 million) through a GP-led secondary transaction. Blackbird Ventures is an Australian venture capital firm.