New York State Pension Commits More Than $1.3B in Investments in August

The New York State Common Retirement Fund committed more than $1.3 billion in investments in August, more than half of which were earmarked for its real estate portfolio.

The pension giant committed $400 million to refinancing an existing loan secured by a building and land on Fifth Avenue in New York. It also set aside another $300 million for the Asana Partners’ Select Fund managed by privately held real estate investment company Asana Partners. The fund is a fund-of-one structure focused on core and core-plus retail and mixed-use properties in and near urban neighborhoods in the U.S. The strategy of the fund is to acquire retail and mixed-use properties in high barrier-to-entry neighborhoods in areas targeted for job growth, population growth and income growth.

The NYSCRF also committed slightly more than $111.4 million within its real estate portfolio to a Lowe’s Bulk Distribution Center managed by MetLife Investment Management. The distribution center is a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial building in Savannah, Georgia, that is 100% leased to Lowe’s Companies Inc.

Within its private equity portfolio, the pension fund committed $250 million to the PSG VI fund from PSG Equity, which will target software and tech-enabled businesses in the B2B-software, cyber security, big data and artificial intelligence sectors, primarily in North America. It also set aside $175 million for the 57 Stars Global Opportunity Fund, which will seek out emerging market co-investment transactions in companies in “emerging Europe,” primarily Northern Ireland, and other emerging markets in sectors with strong growth trends.

The pension fund also earmarked $100 million within its opportunistic absolute return strategies to the North Haven Tactical Value Fund II Co-Investment Excelsior fund managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management. The investment is described as a fund-of-one that focuses on co-investment opportunities.

During the month, there was no activity within the pension fund’s public equity, credit, real asset, emerging manager or multi-asset strategic partnership portfolios.