Nebraska Investment Council, Lincoln, rehired Aon Investments USA as its general investment consultant and hired Aksia as its specialty investment consultant, said Ellen Hung, state investment officer, in an email.
Both hires were approved at the council’s Feb. 27 meeting and are now subject to contract negotiations, Hung noted.
The council, which oversees $42.7 billion in assets, issued an RFP for one or more consultants in June and formed a committee to review proposals.
The scope of services provided by the general consultant will include an asset-liability study, strategic asset allocation, portfolio structure, manager selection and ongoing review, development of investment policy statements, performance reports and work with the specialty consultant as needed, according to documents presented at the council’s Feb. 27 meeting. The scope of services provided by the specialty consultant will include annual review and development of pacing plans, support the selection and ongoing monitoring of private real estate and private equity fund managers, performance reports and work with the general consultant as needed, council staff noted in the documents.
Further details about the consulting contracts were not immediately available.
Separately at the Feb. 27 meeting, the council approved a $13 million commitment to a continuation vehicle associated with New Mountain Partners V, a buyout fund managed by New Mountain Capital, Hung confirmed.
The council in 2017 committed $50 million to New Mountain Capital V. The continuation vehicle is for one of the fund’s portfolio companies — Real Chemistry, a health-innovation company that offers a data and solutions component to the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry, according to board documents.
“The potential organic growth of Real Chemistry plus the additional growth options in M&A activity make the CV an attractive opportunity,” staff wrote in a recommendation to the council.
The commitment was made on behalf of the council's five defined benefit plans, which have a total of $18.2 billion in assets, and its cash balance benefit plans totaling $3.2 billion.
