The Seattle Times : WA treasurer and private equity
February 3, 2026
New reporting from The Seattle Times examines mounting concern over the Washington State Investment Board’s heavy exposure to private equity, as Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti warns the state to reconsider its reliance on the asset class.
The Seattle Times: Washington treasurer warns state to pull back on private equity investments
The article notes that Washington has the largest allocation to private equity of any public pension system in the country. Alyssa Giachino, investor engagement director for PESP, told TheSeattle Times that Washington’s outsized exposure led PESP to rank the state as “very high risk.”
PESP provided background for the story as part of our ongoing engagement with WSIB and other public pension stakeholders. The piece reflects concerns PESP has long raised about private equity’s scale within Washington’s pension system, particularly given the asset class’s high fees, limited transparency, and long-term liquidity constraints.
Those concerns are detailed in PESP’s Private Equity State Risk Index, which ranks Washington as “Very High Risk” overall, with a Public Pensions Risk Score of 100 out of 100. Washington is among the top states for the share of public pension assets invested in private equity, while providing no comprehensive fee disclosure for those investments—a combination that significantly heightens risk for retirement savers.
PESP research also finds that Washington faces elevated private-equity-related risks across multiple sectors, including workers and jobs, healthcare, and housing, underscoring how concentrated private equity exposure can affect not only pension beneficiaries, but the broader state economy.
TheSeattle Times reporting adds to a growing national conversation about whether public pension funds’ heavy reliance on private equity remains justified as performance comes under increased scrutiny, and as fiduciaries weigh the long-term implications for retirement security.
Read the full story: Washington treasurer warns state to pull back on private equity investments
