Illinois State Board places $12 billion with BlackRock in strategic partnership

Illinois State Board of Investment, Chicago, hired BlackRock (BLK) as a strategic partner to manage or have discretionary oversight of $12 billion of the $18.3 billion in defined benefit plan assets the board oversees.

BlackRock will manage $8.6 billion in indexed assets and provide discretionary oversight over $2.8 billion in actively managed assets. ISBI at its meeting on Monday also approved a $700 million allocation to BlackRock for factor-based investing, according to a board news release.

ISBI issued an RFP in April; BlackRock was the sole finalist.

It is ISBI's fourth hiring of a strategic partner in the past year; most of the DB plan assets the board oversees are under the oversight of the four strategic partners.

Last October, ISBI hired Perella Weinberg Partners to manage a total of about $780 million in assets in a strategic partnership with discretion over the management of $430 million in active public markets investments and $350 million in opportunistic credit. In June 2017, Rock Creek Group, which was a hedge fund-of-funds manager for ISBI, was given discretion over $520 million in opportunistic credit, $400 million in non-core real estate and $380 million in public markets. Also, Hamilton Lane, which had been ISBI's real estate consultant, was given discretionary authority over $1.2 billion in private equity, $520 million in opportunistic credit and $400 million in non-core real estate.

An ISBI spokesman could not be reached immediately to provide further information.