If a money manager pays a placement fee to a politically connected individual, it may be criminally actionable.

FORBES: A ''Tipping Point'' for Public Pensions? (November 2009)

The other big investor with TPG's real-estate program is Ivanhoe Cambridge, the property investor for Canadian pension manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

WSJ: Buyout Firm to Try Hand At Fund

"I don't miss the red-eye flights or putting on pantyhose or the stress of not being within driving distance of my 20-month-old son, "says Ren Shimada Siegel, a former Novell marketing manager who now runs a placement agency from her home.

FORBES: Entrepreneur moms