New Zealand Superannuation Fund committed up to $250 million to alternatives firm KKR & Co. for private equity investments in North American gas and oil opportunities, according to an announcement Friday by the NZ$24.9 billion (US$21.3 billion) Auckland-based fund.
The allocation will be invested over the next three to five years, said NZ Super spokeswoman Catherine Etheredge in an e-mail.
NZ Super committed up to US$175 million to new KKR energy private equity investments in North American natural gas exploration and production, according to a news release.
The remaining US$75 million will be invested with the KKR Energy Income and Growth Fund I. On March 5, KKR announced that the fund, focused on the development of unconventional gas and oil resources in North America, had been closed with $2 billion in commitments.
According to its latest annual report, NZ Super had invested NZ$43 million in KKR Asian Fund and NZ$58 million in KKR 2006 Fund.
Matt Whineray, the superannuation fund’s general manager, investments, said in the news release that the latest commitments — focused on developments in North America that are “profoundly changing” global energy markets — will help NZ Super “diversify the fund’s current exposure to energy.”
