New Mexico State Investment Council, Santa Fe, committed $100 million to buyout fund Vista Equity Partners Fund V and $50 million to NGP Energy Capital Management’s NGP Agribusiness Follow-On Fund, said Charles Wollmann, director of communications.
The investment council manages $18.5 billion in endowment assets.
It’s the investment council’s first commitment to a Vista Equity Partners fund. The fund will invest in enterprise software companies in multiple industries.
NGP Agribusiness is a follow-on fund to NGP’s Natural Resources X fund. The council committed $75 million to NGP Natural Resources X in 2011. The new fund would invest in at least some businesses held in NGP’s Natural Resources X fund and one to three new companies that would be majority- or wholly owned by NGP Agribusiness. The new fund was necessary because NGP Natural Resources X had reached its capacity for investing in agricultural and water resources.
LP Capital Advisors, the investment council’s private equity consultant, assisted with both commitments.
Separately, the council decided to maintain the current commitment schedule for its $40 million in-state private equity program in 2014. Under this commitment schedule, the council would make an average of three fund commitments per year and one co-investment commitment every three years. Program consultant Sun Mountain Capital assisted.
Separately, the New Mexico Legislature passed a bill that would remove an existing 15% cap on international investments and also heighten the standards by which the council must manage the $13 billion Land Grant Permanent Fund to the Uniform Prudent Investor Act standard from the “prudence of an ordinary businessman” standard.
“We believe it’s a dated and arbitrary restriction put in place decades ago, when the global economy was very different. We will work to help the voters understand this need before November when they get to decide on the amendment,” Mr. Wollmann wrote.
The Land Grant Permanent Fund earned 5.11% for the quarter ended Dec. 31 and 16.29% for the year, also ended Dec. 31.
