MassPRIM hits $1 bln in PE pledges this year, could go as high as $2 bln

Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (MassPRIM) committed more than $1 billion out of a planned private equity pacing of as much as $2 billion in 2019, and recently approved more than $500 million in new commitments.

At its May 14 board meeting, MassPRIM allocated $260 million to Advent International GPE IX, LP, $250 million to TA XIII, LP and $34 million to Medicxi III, according to a report filed at its July Investment Committee meeting Tuesday.

The system this year also has committed to Stone Point Capital, American Industrial Partners, Blackstone Group, Providence Equity and Spark Capital.

MassPRIM is shooting for a 12 percent private equity allocation target, with an actual allocation as of June 30 of 11.3 percent.

The report also said MassPRIM’s private equity program had an 18.5 percent return in fiscal 2019, the best of all its asset classes. PE exactly met its benchmark for the year. PE also led all asset classes in three-year, five-year and 10-year returns, with 20.5 percent, 17.8 percent and 18.3 percent, respectively.

But the $74.8 billion system slightly missed its core benchmark for fiscal 2019, with a 6.1 percent net return against a 6.6 percent benchmark. However, it surpassed its benchmark for three-year, five-year and 10-year returns.

Overall, MassPRIM’s private equity portfolio has a 13.5 percent net return since inception, the report said. As of June 30, MassPRIM’s private equity holdings had a market value of just under $8.2 billion and a total value of $31 billion.

The system’s private equity distributions are so far outpacing its contributions, the report said. MassPRIM had just under $410 million in contributions between Mar. 31 and June 30, for a total of $674 million for 2019 so far. It had $453.7 million in distributions between Mar. 31 and June 30, bringing that total for 2019 to $818.4 million.

Action Item: Read the system’s first quarter update here: https://bit.ly/2K5HEfn