Illinois State Universities Retirement System, Champaign, approved commitments totaling $240 million to three alternative investment strategies offered by existing managers during its Oct. 15 board meeting.
Trustees of the $19.5 billion defined benefit plan accepted the recommendation of investment staff to commit $100 million to BlackRock Global Renewable Power Fund III, according to a news release.
The fund's portfolio managers will invest in climate-oriented infrastructure assets with a focus on energy storage, renewable power generation and distribution.
"This allocation reflects SURS commitment to environmental, social and governance issues, specifically renewable power assets that can generate risk-adjusted returns. SURS continues to place a high priority on ESG initiatives," the news release said.
As part of the board's review of SURS' private equity portfolio, trustees approved an additional commitment of $100 million to existing manager Fairview Capital Partners.
SURS committed $75 million in 2013 to Fairview for investment in a private equity/venture capital small manager-of-managers fund focused on the "small end of the diverse-owned venture capital and buyout universe," the release said.
Beth A. Spencer, SURS' spokeswoman, said in an email that the Fairview strategy totals about $79 million.
SURS also committed $40 million to Mesirow Financial Private Equity Fund VIII-B, a co-investment fund.
