Teacher Retirement System of Texas, Austin, committed a total of $2.883 billion to a variety of alternative investment funds in the quarter ended Dec. 31, according to transaction reports provided by the $112 billion fund.
Seven private equity managers and one venture capital manager received commitments totaling $1.115 billion in the quarter: commitments were made to new funds from five existing managers; two were to new private equity companies; and one was to a new venture capital company.
Commitments of $200 million each were made to KKR Special Situations Fund LP and Apollo SPN (Lightning Credit) fund, managed by Texas Teachers' existing private equity strategic partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Apollo Global Management, respectively. In 2011, the system set up $3 billion separate accounts for investment by each firm.
Commitments to new funds offered by existing private equity managers were $200 million to Blackstone GSO Capital Solutions Fund II, managed by Blackstone GSO Capital Partners; $150 million to Wayzata Opportunities Fund III, managed by Wayzata Investment Partners; and $100 million to EnCap Energy Fund IX, managed by EnCap Investments.
A total of $200 million was committed to secure a 3% stake through restricted securities in Delta Topco Ltd., a sports media holding company that owns Formula One Racing. The commitment was made through a private investment with one of the system's largest private equity managers, CVC Capital Partners.
The TRS transaction report for the fourth quarter revealed a first-time commitment to private equity manager Silver Lake Partners: $150 million has been targeted for Silver Lake Partners IV.
LiveOak Ventures, a venture capital manager which primarily invests in Texas-based technology companies, received a new $15 million commitment from the teacher retirement fund.
The teachers' fund committed a total of $600 million in the fourth quarter to real asset managers.
Three existing managers received commitments to new funds in the three-months ended Dec. 31, the transaction report showed. Commitments of $150 million each were made to CBRE Strategic Partners US Value 6 fund, managed by CBRE Global Investors, and Alterna Core Capital Assets Fund II, managed by Alterna Capital Partners. A total of $200 million was committed to Square Mile Partners IV, evenly spilt between the commingled fund and a private co-investment, managed by Square Mile Capital Management.
A first time commitment of $100 million was made to AEW Capital Management to its AEW Senior Housing Investors II fund, the TRS transaction report showed.
An aggregate $500 million was invested by Texas Teachers in seven hedge funds, the transaction list showed.
Two hedge fund managers received large first time investments from TRS: $200 million went to Pershing Square International Ltd., managed by Pershing Square Capital Management, and $125 million to PDT Partners Fund from PDT Partners LLC.
Additional investments in existing hedge funds were $50 million each to GSO Special Situations Fund, managed by Blackstone GSO Capital Partners, and Amici Fund International Ltd., managed by Amici Associates, and $25 million each to Fir Tree Capital Opportunity Fund, Soroban Capital Partners Fund and Fore Multi Strategy Offshore Fund Ltd., managed by Fore Research & Management.
Texas Teachers' other investments in the quarter included a $200 million investment in Marathon Active International strategy, managed by Marathon Asset Management, and $175 million in Neuberger Berman's Greater China strategy, managed by Neuberger Berman Group.
Assets previously committed and/or invested with the managers on Texas Teachers' fourth quarter transaction report could not be learned.
