NEW YORK -- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center has committed $70 million to six new private equity partnerships in the past few weeks, said Michael P. Gutnick, chief investment officer at the $2 billion endowment fund.
The commitments are:
* $10 million to Accel Partners VII, Palo Alto, Calif., an early stage venture capital fund;
* $10 million to MeriTech Capital Partners, Palo Alto, Calif., which focuses on late-stage investments;
* $10 million to Landmark Partners IX, Simsbury, Conn., a fund of funds that invests in secondaries;
* $10 million to Trinity Ventures VII, Menlo Park, Calif., which invests in early stage high-tech ventures;
* $10 million to Code Hennessee & Simmons, Chicago, which specializes in midmarket buyouts; and
* $20 million to HarbourVest Partners VI, Boston, a fund of funds that invests in both venture cap and buyouts.
The new partnerships are part of a $425 million alternatives program started three years ago, with $300 million earmarked for private equity and $125 million for hedge funds. So far, $250 million has been invested in alternatives, Mr. Gutnick said in an interview.
Memorial has completed 25 transactions in private equity and nine in hedge funds since the program started. The program is "aggressive and diversified (and) invests all across the board," he said.
The endowment fund already has had investments with several of the general partners with which it made new deals, Mr. Gutnick said. It is a limited partner in Accel VI, Landmark VIII and Trinity Ventures VI.
He declined to name the endowment's hedge fund partnerships, but said the styles range from distressed event arbitrage to U.S. long-short strategies to global macro strategies.
Cambridge Associates Inc., Boston, is the consultant for the endowment's alternatives program and acts as its exclusive screening agent, said Mr. Gutnick, who does not do any direct screening.
