New York Common Cashes Out $3.3B Worth of Strategic Partnerships

The pension giant also committed another $1 billion to a BlackRock climate fund after dumping nearly $4 billion in public equities earlier this year.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund cashed out of three multi-asset strategic partnerships worth more than $3 billion during July, according to its latest monthly transaction report.

The $268 billion pension fund also committed $1 billion to a BlackRock climate change fund, marking the second straight month it invested in public equities after terminating a combined $3.8 billion worth of equity funds in March and April.

The NYSCRF ended a Schroder Investment Management multi-asset fund within its multi-asset strategic partnership portfolio that was worth approximately $1.2 billion, which was allocated to cash. It also terminated multi-asset funds managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Wellington Management, respectively, which were worth $1.1 billion each and were also allocated to cash.

Within its public equities portfolio, the pension fund doubled its investment in BlackRock’s MSCI Climate Change Index to $2 billion. The commitment follows an initial $1 billion investment in January 2023. The fund tracks an index that measures opportunities and risks associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy. It was up 31% in 2023 and 15% annually over five years.

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The pension fund earmarked nearly $800 million within its real estate portfolio during July, $300 million of which is going to the BentallGreenOak Asia IV fund, a closed-end, pan-Asian fund managed by real estate investment firm BentallGreenOak. Another $200 million will be invested in Oaktree Capital Management’s Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund IX, described as a broad-based opportunistic real estate fund. The NYSCRF also committed $150 million to the KKR Real Estate Partners Americas IV Co-Investment fund managed by KKR & Co. Inc. The fund co-invests with KKR Real Estate Partners Americas IV fund and is sponsored by KKR.

In addition to the real-estate fund investments, the pension fund also bought a few properties during July. Its largest such acquisition was Building B at The Cubes at Glendale, an Arizona industrial park, for $128.1 million. The NYSCRF also paid slightly less than $1.6 million to buy a complex in Otsego, New York, that includes one building with 64 residential units and one commercial space. The pension fund paid slightly less than $1.1 million for a three-story building with eight residential units in Dutchess County, New York.

Within its private equity portfolio, the NYSCRF committed $400 million to the Kohlberg Empire State Co-Investment Fund, managed by Kohlberg & Co. The fund will invest additional capital with the Kohlberg NY Investors X-B fund, mainly in the U.S. It is also investing $300 million to the Kohlberg NY Investors X-B fund, also managed by Kohlberg & Co. The fund will seek investments in pharmaceutical and medical products and services; infrastructure services; business services; financial and information services; health care services; and the food and consumer sectors.

The pension fund also earmarked $250 million within its real assets portfolio to the Hull Street Energy Partners III fund, which mainly invests in power generation assets involved in energy transition.

As part of the NYSCRF’s emerging manager program, which invests with newer, smaller and diverse investment management firms, the pension fund has set aside $15.7 million for the Valspring Capital Fund I within its private equity asset class. The fund aims to make growth equity investments in U.S.-based, tech-enabled health care and health care services companies.