Fund performance: Early-decade funds still chasing venture’s boom

Venture’s recent boom has been well documented and appreciated, but for many early-decade funds, it is still a distant goal.

This is true for the Indiana Public Retirement System’s portfolio, which includes a dozen venture and venture-related funds from 2001 to 2005. Most are vintage 2004 and 2005, just a year or two before fund returns began to spike.

The portfolio is largely in positive territory. Yet it struggled for gains last year, a year during which many later vintage funds posted sterling results. Performance at four of the funds advanced during the year and at eight of them declined, according to a recent portfolio report.

The portfolio’s leader is a secondary fund from Landmark Partners, which as of December 2014 had an IRR of 25.27 percent, the report showed. Distributions from Landmark Equity Partners XII have been strong.

Next in line is Insight Venture Partners V, a 2005 fund with an IRR that inched ahead to 21.2 percent. Insight V saw distributions jump smartly last year.

Performance is less impressive beyond that. Bay Partners XI, a 2005 fund, generated a nice IRR increase in 2014 and ended the year with a 13.15 percent IRR, according to the report. It had an IRR of 6.9 percent a year earlier.

Columbia Capital Equity Partners IV, also from 2005, saw its IRR climb to 13.42 percent.

However, Arch Venture Fund VI lost ground. The 2003 fund ended the year with an IRR of 1.74 percent, down from 9.72 percent a year earlier, according to the report.

The accompanying chart lists the 12 funds with their commitments, contributed capital, distributions and IRRs.