Michigan Retirement Systems commits nearly $3 billion to alternatives

Michigan Department of Treasury, Bureau of Investments, committed nearly $3 billion to private funds and co-investments on behalf of the $69.9 billion State of Michigan Retirement Systems, Lansing, in the quarter ended Dec. 31.

In a recently released fourth-quarter 2017 investment report, the bureau revealed a total of $770 million was committed to seven private equity and venture capital funds:

$250 million to Carlyle Partners VII, a buyout fund managed by Carlyle Group;

$175 million to Affinity Asia Pacific Fund V, a pan-Asia buyout fund managed by Affinity Equity Partners;

$100 million to Sycamore Partners III, a middle market buyout fund;

$100 million to Charlesbank Equity Partners IX, a middle market buyout fund, and $50 million to Charlesbank Fund IX Overage Allocation Program, both managed by Charlesbank Capital Partners;

$50 million to Berkshire Fund IX Co-investment Fund, a co-investment fund managed by Berkshire Partners; and

$45 million to Warburg Pincus Financial Sector, a special situations fund.

Three real estate and infrastructure funds were awarded commitments totaling $1.704 billion:

$1.45 billion to MWT Holdings managed by Domain Capital Advisors; $244 million to a separate account managed by Principal Real Estate Investors; and $10 million to Alidade​ Capital Fund IV.

Four real return and opportunistic funds received commitments totaling $500 million during the three-months ended Dec. 31. The bureau allocated $225 million to Apollo Structured Credit Recovery Fund IV, managed by Apollo Global Management; $200 million to TSSP Adjacent Opportunities Partners, managed by TPG; $50 million to Riverside Credit Solutions Fund I, managed by the The Riverside Co.; and $25 million to Marathon CLO Equity Fund, managed by Marathon Asset Management.

The retirement systems' asset allocation as of Dec. 31 was domestic equities, 24.4%; international equities, 18.6%; private equity, 15.2%; fixed income, 12.4%; real estate and infrastructure, 10%; real return & opportunistic, 8.7%; absolute return, 5.7%; and short-term, 5%.