Illinois Teachers’ Pension Invests $1.5 Billion in June, July

The board of trustees of the $63.1 billion Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois approved more than $1.5 billion in investment commitments during June and July, over $1 billion of which will go to alternative investments, according to a news release from the fund.

The Illinois TRS committed over $800 million to 12 private equity investments, $200 million to an investment in its real assets portfolio and up to $650 million to an investment within its global income portfolio.

Within the pension fund’s $10.4 billion private equity portfolio, TRS committed $150 million to Silver Lake Partners, which manages $685 million in TRS assets, and €130 million ($132 million) to U.K.-based TDR Capital, which currently administers €57 million in TRS assets.

Another $100 million was set aside for Baring Private Equity Asia Group’s Baring Asia Private Equity Fund VIII. Baring currently manages $340 million in TRS assets. The fund also set aside $100 million to Bregal Sagemount, which currently manages $75 million of TRS assets, and committed $60 million to Craft Ventures, which will be split evenly between the Craft Ventures IV fund and the Craft Ventures Growth II fund. Craft Ventures is a new investment relationship for the pension fund.

The pension fund committed a total of $75 million to be divided evenly among three Lightspeed Venture Partners funds: the Lightspeed Venture Partners XIV, Lightspeed Partners Select V and the Lightspeed Opportunity Fund II. Lightspeed currently administers $180 million in TRS assets. Another $75 million will go to Sunstone Partners Management, which manages $45 million in TRS assets, and $50 million has been committed to New MainStream Capital, which is a new investment relationship through TRS’ emerging manager program.

The TRS also allotted $15 million to FinTech Collective and $10 million to Insight Partners, which manage $40 million and $162 million worth of TRS assets, respectively, and $35 million to Leeds Illuminate Advisors, which is a new investment relationship for TRS. It also set aside $10 million to MaC Venture Capital, in another new investment relationship for the pension fund.

Within the TRS’ $12.4 billion real assets portfolio, the pension fund committed up to $500 million to SLR Capital, which currently manages $153 million in TRS assets, and up to $200 million to EQT Exeter, which handles $350 million in TRS assets. And within its $15.3 billion global income portfolio, the pension fund allotted $150 million to Sixth Street Advisors, which currently administers $20 million in TRS assets.