Texas Permanent School Fund, Austin, committed a total of $205 million to six alternative investment funds managed by four existing managers and topped up its investment in an existing emerging markets equity strategy with a $400 million infusion.
Investment staff of the $34.6 billion educational endowment have discretion to make investments without the approval of the State Board of Investment, which oversees the Permanent School Fund.
Between June and August, PSF staff's largest action was to invest an additional $400 million to Navarro 1, an emerging market equity separate account managed by BlackRock, showed an investment report obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The additional allocation to the Navarro fund brings the total managed in the account to $900 million, Chief Investment Officer B. Holland Timmins said in an email.
The PSF's original commitment to the fund in 2014 was $450 million.
The largest proportion of commitments to alternative investment funds — $130 million in total — was from the fund's real estate portfolio, which has a target weighting of 10% of plan assets.
The biggest commitment by PSF investment officers in the asset class was a $75 million commitment to DRA Growth & Income Master Fund X, a diversified fund managed by DRA Advisors.
A total of $30 million was committed to three China-focused real estate funds in Gaw Capital Partners' Gateway series.
PSF committed $5 million to Gateway Real Estate Fund VI and $23 million to Gateway VI Co-Investment (Direction) and $2 million to Gateway VI Co-Investment (Panorama).
Also from the fund's real estate portfolio, $25 million was committed to KKR Husky Co-Invest, which is run by existing manager KKR & Co.
From PSF's private equity portfolio, which represents a 13% target weighting of plan assets, Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings II received a $75 million commitment, the investment report showed. Portfolio managers from Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, which manage the fund, will purchase minority ownership stakes in alternative investment managers.
