The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) is continuing to fulfill its target allocations to real estate and private equity, committing an aggregate $1.2 billion in capital towards the asset classes, according to a recently issued report from the country’s third-largest public pension plan.
The largest commitment was $500 million granted to Vista Equity Partners Perennial, a private equity vehicle that targets mid- to large-capitalization enterprise software businesses in North America. The transaction is representative of an ongoing relationship between the two investors, with the NYSCRF having committed over $2 billion across seven funds, according to the pension’s comprehensive annual financial report.
The second-largest transaction was $400 million committed to Brookfield Strategic Real Estate Partners III, a diversified global opportunistic fund that seeks to acquire positions or control in real estate companies and distressed securities, and direct real estate acquisitions. The NYSCRF committed more than $250 million to the second edition of the fund’s series a few years ago.
The pension scheme continued its exposure towards the real estate asset class with $150 million committed to Niam Nordic VII, a fund that focuses on acquiring commercial real estate in specific Nordic countries, after having secured a commitment to Niam Nordic VI in previous years.
It then acquired two New York-based housing property mortgages for an aggregate value of $2 million, building out its mortgage portfolio which includes more than 250 holdings based in New York, according to the pension’s 2018 annual report.
A $296 million relationship with the First Pacific Advisors Mid Cap account, a strategy focused on global public equities, was also terminated, according to the report. A spokesperson for the pension did not respond to questions regarding the transaction by press time.
Additionally, the pension committed $114 million to a co-investment strategy with CVC Capital Partners, which will target large-cap companies with potential for cash yield in Europe and North America.
The transactions from the report follow a similar trend by the pension’s previous report, whereby it committed $1.9 billion across its private equity and real estate strategies. In both reports, there was no activity across the $207.4 billion investor’s emerging manager, real assets, absolute return, and fixed income portfolio.
The New York State Employees’ Retirement System, whom the NYSCRF conducts investments for, was 98.24% funded as of March 31, 2018.
Tags: New York State Common Retirement Fund, Pension, Private Equity, Real Estate