All posts tagged: allocation

Jack Dorsey’s Block invests in Bitcoin’s with 10% monthly profit allocation

Jack Dorsey’s Block invests in Bitcoin’s with 10% monthly profit allocation

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block has announced plans to plow 10% of profits from its products back into Bitcoin each month. The initiative, unveiled in Block’s latest quarterly report, is the latest move from the enigmatic billionaire to underline his faith in the cryptocurrency. The fintech firm first embraced Bitcoin in 2020 with a $220 million investment. Those holdings have since surged 160% to reach $573 million by the close of Q1 2024. CEO Jack Dorsey emphasized his belief in Bitcoin’s potential in the report and stated, “Going forward, each month we will be investing 10% of our gross profit from Bitcoin products into Bitcoin purchases.” He added, “Historically and moving forward, our investment in Bitcoin transcends technology; it is an investment in a future where economic empowerment is the norm.” Addressing the question of ‘why Bitcoin?’ in the report, Dorsey wrote: “But why spend time on Bitcoin at all? We believe the world needs an open protocol for money, one that’s not owned or controlled by any single entity. We believe Bitcoin …

California increases water allocation after wet winter

California increases water allocation after wet winter

With runoff from this year’s snow and rain boosting the levels of California’s reservoirs, state water managers on Tuesday announced plans to increase deliveries of supplies from the State Water Project to 40% of full allotments, up from 30% last month. The increased allocation, which had been widely expected, means that suppliers serving 27 million Californians, as well as some farming areas, will have substantially more water available to use and store this year. But the Department of Water Resources also said officials have had to limit pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta this year because of environmental protections for native fish. Although this year has brought average wet conditions, the agency said its ability to move water south through the system of aqueducts and reservoirs has been “impacted by the presence of threatened and endangered fish species” near the state’s pumping facilities in the south delta. “The presence of these fish species has triggered state and federal regulations that significantly reduce the pumping from the Delta into the California Aqueduct,” John Yarbrough, acting …

LACERA decreases venture capital allocation range, cites market conditions

LACERA decreases venture capital allocation range, cites market conditions

Analysts say this is likely more of a one-off than a sign that LP interest in venture is waning. The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) voted to decrease its allocation range to venture capital at a March 13 meeting. The board of investments voted to decrease its allocation range to venture capital and growth equity from between 15% and 30% of the pension system’s private equity portfolio, to between 5% and 25%. LACERA’s venture portfolio is currently 10.8% of the PE portfolio. It’s a somewhat puzzling move, as that subset has been tremendously successful, with a TVPI — a figure representing both realized and unrealized profits of a fund investment — of 2.08x at the end of 2023, the highest of any of the private equity portfolio’s sub strategies. As of the end of 2023, the organization reported that the five all-time best performing funds in its private equity portfolio were venture funds, including four funnds from Union Square Ventures with vintages spanning from 2012 to 2016. The firm has also backed VCs …

3 reasons to maintain a follow-on allocation

3 reasons to maintain a follow-on allocation

Champ Suthipongchai Contributor Champ Suthipongchai is a co-founder and general partner at Creative Ventures, a method-driven deep tech VC firm investing in startups that address the impact of increasing labor shortages, rising healthcare costs and the climate crisis. More posts by this contributor 3 mistakes to avoid as an emerging manager 3 ways deep tech founders can climb out of pilot purgatory A venture fund maintaining some allocation for follow-on investments is not unheard of. But should VCs do this? Follow-on investments won’t ever be the deciding factor in which funds win or lose, but they will continue to distinguish the top decile from the top quartile. After all, if a company achieves wild success — the goal of any venture investment — then the initial investment will always do better than any follow investment. So, as investors, why don’t we put everything into that first check to maximize the return? The answer to this requires an exploration of venture mechanics. Follow-on investments increase the chances of follow-on investment Follow-on investments are strategic and can …