Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, committed a total of up to $528 million to four private equity funds, documents from the $50.4 billion pension fund show.
At its June 13 board meeting, the pension fund board committed $150 million to the Varde Scratch and Dent Fund, a fund jointly managed by Varde Partners and FirstCity Financial that invests in commercial real estate loans. In addition, the pension fund committed €150 million ($203 million) to Bridgepoint Europe V, a fund managed by Bridgepoint Capital that acquires control positions in European middle-market companies.
The pension fund also committed $100 million to NGP Natural Resources XI, a fund managed by NGP Energy Capital Management that invests in oil and gas production. Also, PennPSERS agreed to commit up to $75 million to Orchid Asia VI, a fund managed by Orchid Asia Group Management that targets growth capital investments in midmarket companies in China.
Also at its June meeting, PennPSERS transferred its $82.3 million investment in the Black River Inflation Opportunity Fund A to Black River Fixed Income Relative Value Opportunity Fund, both managed by Black River Asset Management, for a more diverse set of investment opportunities.
Separately, PennPSERS posted a return of 3.61% for the quarter ended March 31 and added nearly $1.7 billion to the fund. The top-performing asset classes for the quarter were risk parity at 6.61%; commodities, 6.43%; master limited partnerships, 6.29%; and real estate, 6.19%.
The pension fund also reported annualized returns of 7.86% for the three years ended March 31, 13.12% for five years and 6.9% for 10 years.