Texas Municipal Retirement System, Austin, committed $560 million to five private equity and real estate funds in January and February, a transaction report from the $34.5 billion defined benefit plan showed.
A total of $360 million from the pension fund's $1.7 billion private equity/venture capital portfolio was earmarked for three strategies.
The largest commitment was an additional $200 million to a separately managed private equity account — HarbourVest TMRS Polaris SMA — managed by private equity funds-of-funds manager HarbourVest Partners.
The additional commitment is for investment in a new strategy sleeve — private equity secondary investments — from HarbourVest, CIO T.J. Carlson confirmed in an interview.
The pension fund's investment officers initially committed $400 million to the HarbourVest fund of one in September for private equity co-investment opportunities, Mr. Carlson said.
Arcline Investment Management, an existing TMRS manager, was awarded a $120 million commitment for investment in Arcline Capital Partners II, a growth-oriented fund.
Techstars Ventures, a new venture capital manager for the pension fund, received a $40 million commitment to Techstars Accelerator 2021, which will invest in startup companies.
From the pension fund's $2.8 billion real estate portfolio, $100 million each went to two managers.
Platform Investments, a new manager for the retirement system, will invest its commitment in Platform Ventures Real Estate Strategies V, which seeks investment in opportunistic real estate properties.
The other $100 million commitment was to Transwestern Strategic Partners Fund III, run by existing manager Transwestern Investment Group.
