Major public pensions are earmarking larger amounts of capital for private equity, effectively placing more chips on a high-priced market bearing uncomfortable similarities to the pre-crisis deal environment. While some limited partners maintained relatively stable commitment paces in the past year, others cranked up their commitment paces to maintain target allocations to the asset class. "We're in a totally different world right now," said Hugh MacArthur, the leader of Bain's global Private Equity practice. "Figuring out how to find [a deal] and win and transform value in a meaningful way is more important than it's ever been."