Illinois Teachers' Retirement System, Springfield, invested or committed a total of $2.1 billion to 14 investment funds or strategies.
Investment officers of the $49.1 billion fund have investment discretion and during a March 14 board meeting, informed trustees of the commitments and investments as well as terminations they made in six asset classes, spokesman David Urbanek confirmed in an email.
From the fund's $16.9 billion public equity portfolio, existing manager LSV Asset Management received a $275 million allocation to an actively managed international small-cap value equity strategy. Prior to the most recent investment, LSV managed $2.5 billion for the educators' fund.
The TRS equity team also invested $225 million in an international smidcap growth equity strategy managed by Grandeur Peak Global Advisors, the fund's first investment with the firm.
TRS officials terminated Dimensional Fund Advisors for investment of unidentified $275 million equity portfolio or portfolios.
Mr. Urbanek did not respond to a request for more information about the strategy DFA managed for the fund and why it was terminated.
Materials from previous board meetings showed that DFA managed active international developed markets and emerging markets small-cap strategies for the fund.
From the fund's $7.4 billion real estate portfolio, investment staff committed a total of $500 million to two existing real estate managers for investment in opportunistic funds.
Blackstone Real Estate Partners IX received a $300 million commitment. Blackstone Group managed a total of $555.7 million for TRS prior to the most recent commitment,
Rockpoint Group received a $200 million commitment to Rockpoint VI. Prior to the recent commitment, Rockpoint managed $67.2 million for TRS.
The $7.2 billion real assets portfolio was tapped for commitments of $200 million to Westbrook Real Estate Fund XI for investment in U.S. opportunistic real estate. Westbrook Group managed $44.5 million for the fund prior to the recent commitment.
Also from the real assets portfolio, Macquarie Group, a new manager for TRS, was awarded a €200 ($226 million) commitment.
Mr. Urbanek did not respond to a request seeking information about the strategy or fund name for the real asset commitment made to Macquarie.
TRS investment officers invested a total of $350 million with three new managers and terminated two managed futures managers running a total of $302 million from the plan's $5.2 billion diversifying strategies portfolio.
Informed Portfolio Management received a $150 million investment while $100 million each went to Graham Capital Management and Trend Capital Holdings from the diversified strategies portfolio, which includes hedge funds, managed futures strategies and alternative risk premium approaches.
Mr. Urbanek did not provide the names of the funds or identify the strategies managed by the new managers in response to a request for more information.
TRS investment staff terminated its $155 million investment in Transtrend Diversified Trend Program.
Also terminated a $147 million investment in the PIMCO Multi-asset Volatility Onshore Fund. The fund's manager, Pacific Investment Management Co., managed a total of $2.73 billion prior to the termination.
Mr. Urbanek did not provide reasons for the terminations in response to a request.
TRS' private equity investment team committed a total of $268 million to three existing managers and one new firm from the fund's $6.8 billion private equity portfolio.
TSG Consumer Partners, a new manager for TRS, received a commitment of $100 million for investment in TSG8, middle-market buyout fund investment in high-growth consumer companies.
Astorg Asset Management, an existing TRS manager, received a commitment of €60 million to European middle-market buyout fund Astorg VII.
Astorg managed $39 million for TRS prior to the most recent commitment.
Commitments of $50 million each were given to existing managers Grain Management for Grain Communications Opportunity Fund II and Siris Capital Group for Siris Partners IV.
The Grain Management fund will make investments in wireless and spectrum assets infrastructure while the Siris Capital buyout fund will focus on investments in technology companies.
Grain Management ran $52.9 million for TRS prior to the most recent commitment and Siris Capital managed $104.5 million.
A commitment of $75 million from TRS' $11.5 billion global fixed-income portfolio was made to existing manager Northern Fund Management America for investment in Northern Shipping Fund IV, which will provide private equity and mezzanine debt financing to the shipping and energy sector.
Northern Fund Management managed $50.9 million for the Illinois Teachers' fund prior to the most recent commitment.
