New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, announced new hires and commitments totaling $1.44 billion in March, according to a monthly transaction report posted on the website of Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller and sole trustee of the $209.1 billion pension fund.
The pension fund hired GQG Partners to manage a $500 million active international equity portfolio, benchmarked to the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. index. Funding came from cash. The hiring is allocated to the pension fund's global equity asset class.
Also, for its real assets asset class, the pension fund committed $400 million to KKR Global Infrastructure Investors III, a global infrastructure fund primarily targeting opportunities in North America and Europe managed by KKR & Co. The pension fund's most recent commitment to a KKR fund was $275 million to KKR Asian Fund III in March 2017.
In opportunistic alternatives, the pension fund committed $150 million to Strategic Value Special Situations Fund IV, a special situations fund targeting European and North American middle-market debt, managed by Strategic Value Partners. It is the first Strategic Value Partners commitment for the pension fund.
In real estate, the pension fund committed $150 million to Mesa West Core Lending Fund, an open-end commingled real estate debt fund managed by Mesa West Capital. It is a new relationship for the pension fund.
In private equity, the pension fund committed $125 million to Clearlake Capital Partners V, a private equity fund managed by Clearlake Capital Group. The pension fund's previous commitments in 2015 to Clearlake were $87 million to Clearlake Capital Partners IV and $50 million to Clearlake Opportunities Partners.
Also in private equity, the pension fund committed $100 million to Warburg Pincus Financial Sector Fund, a global growth equity and buyout fund. The pension fund previously committed $240 million to Warburg Pincus Private Equity XII in 2016.
Finally, also in private equity, the pension fund committed $10 million to Adamantem Capital I, a buyout fund making investments in small and middle-market companies in Australia and New Zealand. The commitment was made through the Asia NYAI Co-Investment Fund II.