Kentucky Retirement Systems, Frankfort, has hired Adams Street Partners for a private credit mandate.
KRS will invest $250 million in an Adams Street private credit fund as well as commit up to an additional $250 million to the money manager through a co-investment sidecar vehicle, CIO James R. Robben said Friday.
KRS’ state employees, county employees and state police retirement systems will participate in the investment, Mr. Robben said.
The new mandate was funded in part by KRS reducing its allocation to bank loans, resulting in the termination of Shenkman Capital Management, which oversaw a $350 million bank loan mandate for the retirement system. The remainder of the $500 million private credit allocation will come from cash, he said.
The retirement board for the $18 billion system approved the investments Nov. 14, Mr. Robben said.
Regarding the termination, Mr. Robben said: "The underlying reasoning is that we just don't find appropriate value in the public bank loan market, and think that we have better protections and much higher yields in the private credit markets."
No request for proposal was issued for the manager hire. Investment consultant Wilshire Associates assisted in the hiring process.
