Brazilian private equity firms are going all out to land investment pledges from insurers and pension funds that are seeking high returns for an overall portfolio currently worth above 1.1 trillion reais.

The ABVCAP is the umbrella organization that represents private equity funds. It is now directly meeting with insurance and pension fund regulator SUSEP on ways to soften caps on investments aside from fixed income securities, according to ABVCAP President Clovis Meurer.

There are also discussions with fund managers and the additional goal is to get pension funds as well as insurance companies to infuse up to 15% of their investment portfolios into equities and other types of investments. Meurer added that a small portion of that investment can be private equity and/or venture capital investments.

In a news conference at the annual summit of ABVCAP in Sao Paolo, Meurer said, "You could have as little over 100 billion reais flowing into equities and, as a result, being split over to private equity and venture capital. This could be a win-win situation for the market."