MCERA · Marin County Employees' Retirement Association · $3.7B
Marin commits $120 million this year and $40 million in 2030, for the same target
Marin County's pacing model publishes a ten-year private equity commitment schedule, and the shape is the point. It runs $120 million in 2026, falls to $40 million in 2030 and 2031, then rebuilds to $110 million by 2035. The target never moves; it is 8% throughout. Callan gives two reasons for the bend, and neither is the target: catching up after a pause in 2024, then fundraising cycles and the growth of the plan itself.
Key numbers, and what they mean
$880M
The ten-year total: $120M, $100M, $90M, $60M, $40M, $40M, $80M, $90M, $100M, $110M. Only 2026 is adopted, voted by the board in September 2025. The other nine years are consultant modelling revisited every year.
2024
The year Marin paused commitments entirely. Callan's stated reason for the heavy near-term numbers is that they will prevent the allocation falling too far below target, alongside a second reason: consistent engagement to avoid market timing.
1.96x
Net money multiple across both fund-of-funds at 31 March 2025, with $1.22 and $1.26 already returned per dollar called. The programme now hands back more than it draws, which changes where commitments are funded from.
28 or 43
Basis points of management fee. Abbott at a $120 million commitment against Pathway at $60 million. Like for like at $60 million it is 35 against 43, and both add 10 to 12 basis points of carry on secondaries and co-investments.
Asset mix, June 2025
Domestic equities32.5%
International equities22.8%
Domestic fixed income16.9%
Private equity9.0%
Real estate7.4%
Other and cash6.3%
Real assets5.1%
Its own labels. Private equity carries an 8% target, and a new 5% private credit sleeve adopted in August 2025 is not yet in these figures.
The read-through
From the report
Takeaway: how to apply it to a portfolio
The schedule runs $120 million down to $40 million and back up to $110 million while the target sits at 8% throughout. Callan's model builds in annual fund-of-funds fundraising timelines and a three-year deployment pace, and says commitments should moderate from 2029 to 2032 before increasing again to match the growth of the Total Plan and a normal overcommitment pace.
Your commitment size is not a function of your target. It is a function of when your managers actually raise, how fast they deploy and how large your plan is by then. A flat annual cheque assumes a steady state you do not have for the first fifteen years, and it is the reason a programme can be at target on paper and badly timed in practice.
The two fund-of-funds have distributed $559.9 million against $445.5 million called since 2008, and a net multiple of 1.96 times. Callan calls the programme mature and well performing. It does not give this as a reason for the pacing shape.
A programme that returns more than it draws is funding itself, and that changes where your commitments come from rather than how large they should be. Keep the two apart. Maturity tells you about your cash flows; fundraising cycles and plan growth tell you about your cheque size.
Pathway is being acquired by Clearlake Capital. Callan set its organisation stoplight to yellow, meaning notable, kept performance within expectations, and put three options to the committee: keep both managers, consolidate the full $120 million with Abbott for a 20% fee cut, or replace Pathway.
An acquisition is not a reason to fire a manager, and a fee cut is not a reason to concentrate. Price the diversification you would be giving up before you take the seven basis points, and watch the things Callan names as the actual risks in these deals: product expansion, accelerated fundraising, conflicts and team turnover.
The Argus lensMarin discloses what it pays at the top layer, 28 to 43 basis points depending on manager and commitment size, but not the fees and carry inside the underlying funds. A 20% cut at the top layer is worth seven basis points. The layer underneath is worth considerably more, and it is the one we read.
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About the source
The pacing schedule, the manager review and the three structural options come from the Callan private equity review in Marin County's Investment Committee packet for 3 February 2026. The board voted the $120 million for 2026 at its meeting of 17 September 2025. Private equity programme figures are as of 31 March 2025, and the rest of the packet as of 30 September 2025. Plan assets and the asset mix come from the actuarial valuation as of 30 June 2025.