Minnesota State Board of Investment, St. Paul, approved the recommendation of its investment advisory council to commit a total of $850 million to six private market strategies at its meeting Wednesday, confirmed Mansco Perry III, executive director and CIO, in an email.
Funding for these alternative investment commitments comes from the $75 billion in defined benefit plan assets the board oversees.
From the board's $2.5 billion private credit portfolio, a total of $450 million was committed to new funds from three existing managers.
The largest private credit commitment was $200 million to Prudential Capital Partners VI, a middle-market mezzanine fund. The board committed or invested to the four earlier funds in PGIM's fund series.
The board made a commitment to another mezzanine strategy with $150 million earmarked for Audax Mezzanine Fund V. The board previously made commitments to the two earlier funds in Audax Management Co.'s fund family.
Oaktree Capital Management received a $100 million commitment to Oaktree Real Estate Debt Fund III. This is the board's first commitment to this fund family offered by Oaktree.
Investment officers tapped the board's $15.4 billion private equity portfolio to commit $150 million to KKR Asian Fund IV. The board committed assets to the prior fund in the buyout fund series managed by KKR & Co.
CVI Credit Value Fund V, a distressed/opportunistic debt fund managed by CarVal Investors, received a commitment of $150 million for investment in corporate securities, liquidations claims and structured credit. The board committed assets to the five previous funds in CarVal's fund series.
The Minnesota public defined benefit plans have a total of $3.1 billion committed or invested in distressed debt.
From the $2.9 billion real estate portfolio, the board approved a commitment of $100 million to Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VIII, managed by Oaktree Capital.
As of Dec. 31, the board managed a total of $104.3 billion, including the $75 billion of defined benefit plan assets and $7.9 billion in participant-directed retirement funds, an investment report showed. The rest of the assets the board manages are in various state funds.
