Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, approved $175 million in commitments, confirmed Pamela Hile, spokeswoman for the $28.3 billion pension fund.
At its meeting on Wednesday, the board approved a commitment of up to $100 million to Brightwood Capital Fund IV, a private debt fund managed by Brightwood Capital Advisors that targets investments in U.S. middle-market companies.
PennSERS' board also approved a commitment of up to $75 million to Providence Strategic Growth III, a growth fund managed by Providence Equity Partners that targets investments in North American, lower middle-market, technology-enabled companies. The pension fund previously committed to Providence Strategic Growth II.
The commitments are subject to successful contract negotiations.
PennSERS also announced a 3.7% return for the quarter ended Sept. 30, resulting in an 11.2% net return for the first nine months of the calendar year.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, returns by asset class net of fees were: global equities, 5.3%; private equity 3.9%; hedge funds 1.7%; real estate 1.2%; fixed income 1.1%; and cash 0.3%.
The asset allocation as of June 30 was 65.5% equities, 16.5% fixed income, 14.4% private equity, 8.2% real estate, 5.8% hedge funds and 3.6% cash, according to PennSERS' website.
