Private equity firms have had a great year so far. Really! I'm not talking about the on-going credit crunch that has wreaked havoc on so many deals. I'm talking about fundraising. By one measure, private equity funds have raised $240 billion in the January-June period. That's up 17 percent from a year ago. Does this seem odd at a time when some cracks have appeared in the complex deal machinery? Well, there may be some slowdown as pensions and others adjust. But the fact is that pensions remain hungry for exposure of this kind. In a sense, they want this kind of risk--and are prepared for it on a cyclical basis. They can afford it from a diversification perspective. CalPERS for example has about 6 percent invested in private equity. I do not think they will be swayed by some short-term volatility. The historic returns have made them solid investments.  

For more on Fortress:
- here's a Financial News Online article