South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission approved investments and commitments totaling up to a possible $1.4 billion on behalf of the $29.2 billion South Carolina Retirement Systems at a board meeting Thursday.
Commissioners approved investment of 4% of plan assets — about $1.2 billion in current dollars — in Wellington Emerging Local Debt Fund, managed by Wellington Management, a webcast of the meeting showed.
The initial investment in a commingled fund version of the strategy will be $400 million, James D. Wingo, RSIC investment officer, told commissioners. The fund's strategy is unhedged and unleveraged and invests primarily in locally denominated currency. It also is being offered with “a very competitive fee structure” with a 55-basis-point management fee, Mr. Wingo said during the webcast.
RSIC commissioners also committed $100 million each to Crow Holdings Realty Partners VII and Torchlight Debt Opportunity Fund V.
The core/value-added real estate fund, managed by Crow Holdings Capital Partners, targets investment in multifamily, retail, industrial, and convenience store/gas stations in the U.S. and Canada.
Torchlight Investors' fund will invest in opportunistic commercial real estate debt, targeting loans secured against properties in the U.S.
The commission oversees investment of South Carolina state pension systems for the South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority, a separate administrative agency. Both entities are located in Columbia.
