The Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Funds, Hartford, made new commitments totaling $400 million to its emerging and diverse managers initiative.
In a Thursday news release following a Wednesday meeting of the state's investment advisory council, the office of Shawn T. Wooden, state treasurer and principal fiduciary of the $42.2 billion state pension system, announced a $300 million commitment within the private markets portfolio to GCM Grosvenor for a "custom mandate to invest in small and emerging or diverse managers" as part of its Connecticut Inclusive Investment Initiative or Ci3.
The Ci3 initiative, which was launched by Mr. Wooden in 2020, increased "target allocations to emerging and diverse managers across all asset classes, providing a pathway for growth and expanding outreach in the emerging and diverse manager community," the release noted.
GCM Grosvenor will invest the allocation equally among private equity and real estate managers over three years, the release added.
Mr. Wooden's office also unveiled a commitment of $100 million to The RockCreek Group for a custom mandate — also as part of the Ci3 initiative — to invest in private credit funds managed by diverse and emerging managers, according to the release.
RockCreek also will deploy the capital over three years.
In addition, the state's investment advisory council also approved a new strategic asset allocation for the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, under which the exposure to private assets will increase to 42% from 29%, a spokeswoman said by email.
The shift in private asset allocation will be "sourced from public asset class investments," the release noted.
The spokeswoman added that the shift in allocation will take place over five years, and over that time the target allocation to public assets will decline to 58% from 71%.
This shift from public markets to private markets is expected to increase the risk-adjusted returns of the CRPTF portfolio, the release said.
