New Jersey Division of Investment, Trenton, which manages investments for the $75.3 billion New Jersey Pension Fund, will invest or commit up to $801 million in five alternative investment funds.
Event-driven and activist hedge fund manager JANA Partners was awarded $100 million for investment in its flagship Strategic Investments Fund, according Timothy M. Walsh, director of the investment division and chief investment officer of the pension fund, who prepared a report about the investment for the state investment council's meeting on Thursday.
The JANA fund invests about 30% of its assets in shareholder activist opportunities. Large institutional investors may also participate with JANA in co-investments focused only on active shareholder engagement deals. Mr. Walsh said the investment division also committed up to $200 million to co-investment opportunities with JANA.
In real estate, the investment division committed €75 million ($97 million) to Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund II, which will invest in European real estate and real estate-related assets, according to Mr. Walsh's report to the council. Perella Weinberg Partners manages the fund.
Mr. Walsh said two real estate financing commitments were made to M&G Investment Management: £75 million ($114 million) to M&G Real Estate Debt Fund II, and £125 million to M&G Real Estate Debt Fund III.
“The M&G funds provide an attractive risk-adjusted substitute for lower-yielding fixed-income investments and are a prudent diversifier for the portfolio,” Mr. Walsh wrote in his report on the two investments.
In a follow-on private equity commitment, the investment division committed up to $100 million to Marlin Equity Partners IV, a fund that will continue Marlin Equity Partners' focus on complex middle-market turnaround deals, Mr. Walsh's report said. The division invested in the two predecessor funds in the Marlin series. The amount of the original commitments could not be learned.
