New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, made $1.9 billion in manager hires and alternatives commitments, according to a transaction report Wednesday on the website of Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller and sole trustee of the $242.3 billion pension fund.
The pension fund hired BlackRock to manage $1 billion in equities in a commingled account benchmarked to the MSCI Climate Change index, according to the transaction report. Funding comes from cash. BlackRock is an existing relationship for the pension fund.
The strategy "invests in a global portfolio of developed market public equity securities and makes investments in companies that are participating in opportunities associated with the transition to a lower carbon economy, thereby reducing exposure to carbon intensive companies and increasing exposure to companies that address climate solutions," said Matthew Sweeney, a spokesman for Mr. DiNapoli, in an email.
The pension fund made commitments to two Patient Square Capital opportunistic absolute-return funds: $350 million each to Patient Square Equity Partners and PSC EP Discretionary Co-Invest III. Patient Square, a new relationship for the pension fund, invests in "growth-oriented companies with broad exposure across the health-care sector," the transaction report said.
In real estate, the pension fund committed $200 million to Artemis Real Estate Partners Fund IV, a value-added opportunistic fund that focuses on debt and equity investments in middle-market U.S. real estate, the transaction report said. Artemis is an existing relationship. The pension fund also committed up to $15 million to Raith Real Estate Fund III, an opportunistic fund managed by Raith Real Estate Partners, an existing relationship for the pension fund. The Raith commitment was made through Empire GCM RE Anchor Fund LP/GCM Grosvenor, an emerging manager program.
The pension fund also terminated its $182 million investment in the ValueAct Capital Partners II, a long-equity alpha fund managed by ValueAct Capital Management. The assets were allocated to cash on Jan. 20. The report didn't provide further details.
The pension fund also terminated its $484 million investment with Rockefeller Asset Management, a global manager within the pension fund's public equity portfolio. The termination occurred Dec. 15, and the assets were allocated to cash.
Mr. Sweeney declined to comment on the terminations.
