Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois trustees yesterday adopted the $21 billion defined benefit plan’s first formal allocation guidelines for private equity investments, which now total about $800 million.
The new target allocations are: buyouts, 45%; venture capital, 35%; debt-related, 10%; and non-U.S., 10%. The Springfield-based fund’s current private equity investments are: buyouts, 37%; venture capital, 42%; debt-related, 16%; non-U.S., 5%.
The board voted last year to increase the overall private equity allocation to 7% of fund assets from 3%; during the next two years, between $600 million and $800 million of the new allocation will go to private equity managers in mandates of between $75 million and $100 million, staff told trustees at the February board meeting. Staff will refine implementation guidelines further for the new private equity structure.
The board also voted to invest $75 million in the $1.7 billion GTCR Fund VII/VIIA private equity fund.
