Lexington Partners has amassed a $7 billion pool for private-equity secondaries, the largest of its kind, according to Preqin. There are 26 funds seeking to raise $18.6 billion to buy secondaries, according to Preqin, including Coller International Partners VI, which has a $5 billion goal, and AXA Secondary Fund V, which is targeting $3.5 billion from investors.
New York City's pension funds serve more than 237,000 retirees and beneficiaries and 344,000 employees, according to the comptroller's website.
The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the nation's biggest public pension fund, set the stage for secondary sales when it sold $2 billion of partnerships at the end of 2007, ahead of the financial crisis. Less than a year later, Calpers was hunting for new investments in private equity.