Insight tops mid-decade venture portfolio at CalPERS

A pair of funds from Insight Venture Partners leads a portfolio of mid-decade venture and growth funds at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

The portfolio of 2004 to 2007 vintages is a mix of smaller and mid-sized funds. It employs a multi-stage, or generalist, approach to investing and has two funds of funds.

Half of the funds are under $200 million in size, and most of the remainder come in between $500 million and $600 million. The final two funds are $1 billion and above.

Overall, the portfolio’s performance is uninspiring. Four of the funds were in the red and another four had IRRs in the single digits as of March 2017. Only two funds had IRRs in the double digits, according to a portfolio report.

The top-performing fund was 2005 Insight Venture Partners V with an IRR of 21 percent as of March, the report shows. Among its investments, the fund had invested in PlateSpin, which was acquired by Novell for $205 million in 2008, and Shutterstock, which went public in 2012.

A close second in the CalPERS portfolio was Insight Venture Partners VI from 2007 with an IRR of 19 percent.

Next up was AACP India Investors B from 2007 with an IRR of 8.3 percent, according to the report.

Also in the portfolio are funds from Clarus Ventures and Aisling Capital.