Nebraska Investment Council, Lincoln, made three commitments totaling $154 million at its board meeting Thursday, Michael Walden-Newman, state investment officer, said in an email.
The council, which oversees $26.4 billion in total assets, committed $50 million to McCarthy Capital Fund VII, a North American lower middle-market buyout fund, and $50 million to New Mountain Partners VI, a buyout and growth investment fund managed by New Mountain Capital, on behalf of its five defined benefit plans, which have a total of $11.5 billion in assets, and its cash balance benefit plans totaling $2 billion, according to board documents.
Also, the council made a $54 million commitment to Torchlight Debt Opportunity Fund VII, a real estate debt fund managed by Torchlight Investors, for its defined benefit plans, its cash balance plans, and its $891.6 million general and $380 million health-care endowments.
Lastly, the council approved a recommendation to invest the Meadowlark Endowment Fund, for which the state treasurer accepts qualified private contributions and credits them to the endowment fund, in the same fashion as the general endowment funds.
In 2019, Nebraska lawmakers established the Meadowlark Program to promote postsecondary education opportunities by providing funds to qualified individuals. The program provides children born in Nebraska on or after Jan. 1, 2020 with a Nebraska Educational Savings Trust account unless they are opted out by their parents/guardians.
