Texas Municipal Retirement System committed a total of $410 million to three alternative investment funds at a board meeting Friday.
The largest commitment from the $27.6 billion fund was $300 million to Global Credit Opportunities Fund, confirmed Bill Wallace, TMRS' spokesman, in an email. The fund, managed by BlackRock, will invest in private credit and credit-related assets in corporate special situations or capital structures that are or may experience stress or liquidity constraints.
BlackRock managed a total of $3.1 billion in various fixed income strategies for the Austin-based fund as of Sept. 30.
In private equity, $60 million was committed to Providence Strategic Growth III. In May 2016, TMRS committed the same amount to the second fund in Providence Equity Partners' series. Both funds focus on lower middle-market tech-enabled companies in North America.
Trustees also approved a $50 million commitment to a new manager, LightBay Capital, for investment in LightBay Investment Partners. The fund, the firm's first, will invest in traditional leveraged buyouts and special situations in U.S. companies in the health-care, consumer and service sectors.
The municipal fund is in the process of building out its private equity portfolio to a 5% target. As of Sept. 30, the actual allocation was 0.8%. With the addition of the Providence and LightBay fund commitments, private equity commitments to 10 funds totaled $447 million, close to the level set of the fund's investment pacing plan set at the beginning of the year.
