Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, made three new commitments totaling up to $100 million, spokeswoman Pamela Hile said in an e-mail.
The $28 billion pension fund committed up to $50 million to private equity fund Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners Fund VIII.
The pension fund previously committed up to $125 million to Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners Fund VI in October 2006.
Separately, the pension fund committed up to $25 million to Advent Latin American Fund VI, a private equity fund managed by Advent International. The pension fund previously committed up to $50 million to Advent International GPE VII in September 2012.
The pension fund also committed up to $25 million to H.I.G. Bayside Loan Opportunity Fund IV, a distressed debt fund managed by H.I.G. Capital. The pension fund previously committed up to $50 million to H.I.G. Europe Capital Partners II in June 2013.
The pension fund also released the results of an independent investigation by law firm Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel clearing former Chief Investment Officer Anthony Clark, who retired on Dec. 31, of alleged misconduct.
In a letter to the pension fund's board released following its meeting Wednesday, the law firm said it investigated three categories of allegations: whether Mr. Clark engaged in day trading on the job, whether he devoted the full workweek to the CIO position and whether he made misrepresentations regarding an investment with Tiger Management Advisors.
Regarding the investment in hedge fund Tiger Management Advisors, a firm that eventually dissolved, the law firm said in its letter that it found “no evidence of illegality in what turned into an underperforming investment mainly due to its gold component.” The pension fund had invested $250 million in the hedge fund in December 2011 as part of its diversifying assets program.
The law firm also said no one it interviewed substantiated the day-trading charge. The firm also said Mr. Clark's “presence in or absence from the office was in accordance with the understanding reached prior to his employment.”
In a separate statement Wednesday, Mr. Clark said, “There was never any truth or basis in fact for these accusations. I look forward to resuming my 25-year career in financial management in which it was my pleasure and my mission to serve the state's pensioners for three years. I am relieved to have the shadow cast by unfounded allegations removed from my professional life.”
