The $31.6 billion Texas Permanent School Fund, Austin, committed or invested $505 million in the quarters ended Dec. 31 and March 31, according to data provided by the Texas State Board of Education in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
In the fourth quarter, the investment team committed $200 million to four strategies.
Three commitments of $50 million each were directed to private equity funds run by new managers for the fund: Cortec Group Fund VII, a middle-market buyout fund; Bertram Growth Capital Fund IV, managed by Bertram Capital Management; and RRJ Capital Master Fund IV, which focuses on opportunities in China and southeast Asia.
PSF staffers also committed $50 million to existing real estate manager Exeter Property Group for investment in Exeter Industrial Value Fund V in the quarter ended Dec. 31.
In the quarter ended March 31, private equity commitments totaled $50 million with $25 million each going to new manager Vision Plus Capital for investment in Vision Plus Capital Fund III and Vision Plus Capital Growth Fund I. Portfolio managers of both venture capital funds will seek to invest in Asian startup companies.
Five real estate managers shared an aggregate pool of $230 million in the first quarter this year with the largest commitment of $75 million going to existing manager Angelo, Gordon & Co. for investment in AG Europe Realty Fund III, a value-added fund.
The other four real estate managers are new to the fund, with BlackChamber Partners receiving a $55 million commitment to BlackChamber Real Estate Opportunity Fund, a closed-end fund; $50 million going to BentallGreenOak's GreenOak Europe III fund, also a closed-end fund, focused on opportunities in European logistics properties; and $50 million awarded to CapRock Partners Management, with $35 million earmarked for investment in CapRock Partners Value-Add Industrial Fund III and $15 million for CapRock Partners Industrial Co-investment Fund III (TX).
Existing manager BlackRock received an additional allocation of $25 million to Navarro 1 Fund, a separately managed emerging markets equity fund. The current size of BlackRock's emerging markets portfolio could not be learned.
