LPs

Florida backs current managers for $770 mln

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Florida, private equity, pension fund
The space shuttle Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida October 23, 2007. Discovery begins Mission STS-120 to the International Space Station. Photo courtesy Reuters/Pierre Ducharme - RTR1V8NG
  • More than half Q2 commitments to special strategies
  • Re-ups with Asia Alternatives, Post Oak, Tiger Iron
  • State Board manages $148 bln of  assets

Florida State Board of Administration committed more than $770 million to private equity and strategic investments in the second quarter, according to an Aug. 1 investment report. All eight of Florida’s new commitments were re-ups. 

More than half of Florida’s new allocations went to managers of its strategic investments, a catch-all portfolio of alternative funds that don’t fit its PE, real estate, fixed-income or global-equity programs.

The $10.2 billion strategic-investments portfolio includes private-debt funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Blackstone Group’s credit arm and Oaktree Capital Management.

Florida’s Q2 strategic investments included $200 million to Varde Partners’ 12th flagship fund and $150 million each to Audax Group’s new mezzanine vehicle and AQR Capital Management’s Style Premia Fund.

The board, which manages $147 billion of state assets, also re-upped more than $270 million to traditional private equity funds in Q2.

The largest of those commitments went to SVB Capital, an investment arm of Silicon Valley Bank. Florida re-upped $125 million to SVB’s new venture fund, Strategic Investors Fund VIII.

Asia Alternatives Management, Post Oak Energy Capital and Tiger Iron Capital also received re-ups from Florida in the quarter (see Florida Q2 commitments).

Florida also increased its exposure to U.K. assets, allocating £15 million ($17.7 million) to Inflexion Enterprise Fund IV. In May, Inflexion Private Equity Partners closed Fund IV on £250 million for investments in lower-middle market U.K. businesses.

The Florida board valued its PE portfolio at $8.9 billion as of June 30, 2015, its most recent annual report shows. The portfolio delivered a 6.3 percent return on a 15-year annualized basis, almost 2 percentage points off its benchmark return.

Action Item: Florida State Board of Administration: www.sbafla.com

The space shuttle Discovery lifts off from Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, October 23, 2007. Photo courtesy of Reuters/Pierre Ducharme