New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, made five private equity commitments totaling nearly $1.06 billion, plus a total of $550 million in opportunistic alternatives and real assets commitments, according to the website of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the $178.1 billion pension fund.
All of the private equity transactions were with companies with which the pension fund has made previous commitments.
The pension fund made commitments totaling $500 million to private equity funds managed by Hamilton Lane: $200 million for the New York Credit Co-Investment Fund II and $300 million for the Hudson River Co-Investment Fund III. The former will focus on business in New York State using a credit strategy that targets “lower middle-market companies,” information on the website said, while the latter “will focus on small and middle-market companies” in the state.
Also, the pension fund committed $400 million to Vista Foundation Fund III, managed by Vista Equity Partners. The fund will concentrate on enterprise software companies.
The pension fund made two commitments to funds managed by CVC Capital Partners: $125 million for the CVC Growth Fund and $31 million for the CVC Growth Co-Investment Fund. Both will pursue investments in software and technology businesses in North America and Western Europe, the website said.
For real assets, the pension fund made a $300 million commitment to Brookfield Infrastructure Fund III, a first-time transaction with Brookfield Asset Management. Brookfield offers “access to a globally diversified infrastructure manager with a superior track record in several key sectors including renewables,” wrote Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for Mr. DiNapoli, in an e-mail.
The pension fund also made a $250 million opportunistic alternatives commitment to OHA Strategic Credit Fund II, managed by Oak Hill Advisors. This is a new relationship for the pension fund. “Oak Hill invests in distressed credit/debt,” Ms. Freeman wrote.
The transactions were made in May. That month, the pension fund also added $1 billion to its BlackRock MSCI Europe index account, bringing the account to $4.8 billion as of May 31, Ms. Freeman wrote. The additional funding came from cash.
