Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, hired Albourne America as investment consultant for the $25 billion pension fund's diversifying assets program, confirmed spokeswoman Pamela Hile in an e-mail.
The diversifying assets program replaces the absolute-return program, which was mandated in the pension fund's 2012-2013 Strategic Investment Plan.
In the diversifying assets program, the pension fund plans to move to “fund-of-one mandates” by hiring hedge funds-of-funds managers that offer customized separate accounts.
Albourne America will work with the pension fund's investment staff and its three other investment consultants: general consultant R.V. Kuhns & Associates, alternatives consultant StepStone Group and real estate consultant Townsend Group.
Other finalists were Grosvenor Capital Management and NEPC.
Separately, the pension fund committed up to $50 million to Advent International GPE VII. The pension fund had committed $50 million to Advent International GPE VI in January 2008.
The pension fund also made a follow-on commitment of up to $10 million to BPG Investment Partnership IX. The pension fund had committed up to $15 million to the fund in March 2011.
