Florida State Board sells up to $1 billion in private equity stakes

Florida State Board of Administration, Tallahassee, sold between $500 million and $1 billion in private equity fund stakes to Lexington Partners, John Kuczwanski, FSBA communications manager, said in an e-mail.

Placement agent Park Hill Group assisted with the sale, which was made “to refocus and rebalance the portfolio,” Mr. Kuczwanski said. He could not provide further details.

It is the second high-profile sale for the FSBA in the past year. In October, the FSBA announced it sold to Partners Group its stakes in eight limited partnerships in which it invested a combined €314.8 million ($345.5 million) in European private equity.

The FSBA oversees $181.3 billion in total assets, including the Florida Retirement System's $148 billion defined benefit fund and $8.8 billion 401(a) defined contribution plan.

Separately, the FSBA announced the Florida Retirement System's defined benefit fund returned a preliminary 3.67% in the fiscal year ended June 30, topping its benchmark by 143 basis points.

Private equity was the top-performing asset class with a one-year return of 14.6%, followed by real estate at 11.9%. Strategic investments returned 6.8%; fixed income, 1.99%; global equity, 1.9%; and cash and cash equivalents, 0.2%.

The allocation as of May 31, the most recent available, was 58.6% global equity, 19.6% fixed income, 8.2% real estate, 6.8% strategic investments, 5.9% private equity, and the remainder in cash.

The target allocation is 53% global equity, 18% fixed income, 12% strategic investments, 10% real estate, 6% private equity and 1% cash.