New Jersey Division of Investment, Trenton, rehired Cliffwater as hedge fund consultant.
The division, which manages investments for the $80.6 billion New Jersey Pension Fund, issued an RFP in May because the consultant’s existing contract was expiring. The new contract is for three years with an option for two additional one-year extensions, materials for Tuesday’s meeting of the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the division, showed. Other finalists could not be learned by press time.
Separately, the division announced at the meeting that it sold its limited partner interest in General Catalyst Group VI, managed by General Catalyst Group Management, to Washington University in August. Its initial investment in 2011 was for $15 million. Washington University acquired the division’s interest at a 5% premium to its net asset value as of March 31, a total of $14.1 million.
The investment council in May had sent a memo to the New Jersey Treasury Department regarding General Catalyst “entrepreneur in residence” Charles Baker, the Republican primary winner in the race for governor of Massachusetts. Mr. Baker had reportedly made a $10,000 contribution to the New Jersey Republican State Committee in May 2011.
The contribution had raised the question whether the General Catalyst investment should have been prohibited under the council’s policy not to invest in a fund managed by an investment manager “if, within two years prior to such investment, specified political contributions or payments to a political party have been made or paid by the firm or its investment management professionals,” the memo said.
The division also proposed at Tuesday’s meeting to commit $100 million each to buyout fund Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners VIII and non-core real estate debt fund True North Real Estate Fund III, managed by True North Management Group.
Also, the council announced the pension fund returned 16.87% in the fiscal year ended June 30, 108 basis points above its policy benchmark.
