LPs

PSP’s Pittman joins British Columbia pension manager to lead PE

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Jim Pittman, Canada, private equity, British Columbia, BCIMC
Participants run into English Bay during the 96th annual New Year's Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver on January 1, 2016. Photo courtesy Reuters/Ben Nelms
  • Pittman worked with ILPA on reporting templates
  • BCIMC recently separated PE from infrastucture
  • Has been doing more direct investing

Jim Pittman, a former senior member of the private equity group at Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board, earlier this year joined British Columbia Investment Management Corp to run PE.

Pittman joined BCIMC as senior vice president in private equity in April, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked at PSP for 10 years, from 2005 to December 2015, most recently as managing director-private equity.

BCIMC recently split its private markets division in two: PE and infrastructure and renewable resources, its 2015-2016 annual report says. The infrastructure division is led by Lincoln Webb, who had formerly run the combined portfolio.

The pension manager commits to funds and, like many Canadian institutions, also makes direct investments. In 2015, BCIMC committed more than C$2.6 billion ($2 billion) to private markets, with about C$730 million going to direct private equity investments, the annual report shows.

BCIMC reported about C$6.8 billion in PE assets as of March 31, 2016, or about 5.6 percent of total funds managed for clients.

The program returned 25.5 percent against a one-year benchmark of 19.1 percent and 20.3 percent per year on a four-year basis, compared with a 20.6 percent benchmark, for the period ended Dec. 31, 2015, the annual report said. The performance stemmed in part from the strength of the direct investing program, the annual report said.

Pittman has worked with the Institutional Limited Partners Association, serving as chairman of ILPA’s reporting-guidelines committee. In 2011, upon release of a template focusing on quarterly management reporting requirements, Pittman said: “It is encouraging to see GPs and LPs work together to create solutions that can only help strengthen the industry over the long term.”

At PSP, the private markets program is led by Guthrie Stewart, who joined in fall 2015, Buyouts has reported.

Action Item: BCIMC’s annual report: https://www.bcimc.com/publications/Default.asp

Participants run into English Bay during the 96th annual New Year’s Day Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver on January 1, 2016. Photo courtesy Reuters/Ben Nelms