Texas State Board of Education, Austin, approved real estate commitments totaling up to $90 million from the $28.4 billion Texas Permanent School Fund.
The board, which oversees investment of the educational endowment, approved a commitment of up to $75 million to Mesa West Real Estate Income Fund IV, according to a webcast of the board’s meeting Friday. The fund, managed by Mesa West Capital, is a real estate debt fund that will originate first lien and bridge loans on value-added commercial properties.
Commissioners also approved an increase to $50 million from $35 million for a previously approved real estate co-investment managed by Blackstone Group’s Strategic Partners Fund Solutions, a specialist in secondary market transactions.
John Grubenman, PSF’s director of private markets, told the Committee on School Finance Permanent School Fund, which met Thursday, that the co-investment is in a portfolio of about 40 global real estate fund investments acquired from an institutional investor, according to a webcast.
Mr. Grubenman did not identify the former owner of the fund stakes, but Pensions & Investments reported Nov. 12 that Blackstone purchased 43 real estate fund stakes worth $3 billion from the $291.4 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, on the secondary market.
Separately, during a review of the permanent fund’s $3.1 billion hedge fund portfolio on Thursday, finance committee members debated whether to terminate Mesirow Advanced Strategies when its contract for managing a $400 million hedge fund-of-funds portfolio expires Feb. 29.
After prolonged discussion and defeat of the motion to terminate Mesirow, members of the finance committee passed a motion charging investment officials to bring a proposal for creating a new, internally managed hedge fund-of-funds portfolio to the committee’s next meeting Jan. 28.
The Board of Education approved the committee’s motion during its Friday meeting, the webcast showed.
