New York State Common Retirement Fund Invests More Than $3B in May

The New York State Common Retirement Fund committed more than $3 billion in investments in May, including a $1 billion investment in an opportunistic return strategies fund, according to its monthly investment report.

The $1 billion investment went to the Khosla Ventures Excelsior fund, managed by Khosla Ventures, described as an evergreen fund investing parallel to Khosla Ventures’ flagship funds over multiple vintages. Menlo Park, California-based Khosla Ventures, founded by and named after Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, is a new relationship for New York Common.

The pension fund also committed more than $720 million within its real assets portfolio to two funds. The NYSCRF earmarked $450 million for the EQT Infrastructure VI fund managed by EQT Fund Management. The fund seeks to invest in infrastructure and infrastructure-like assets, focusing on the digital; energy and environment; transport and logistics; and social infrastructure sectors, with a focus on Europe, North America and, to a lesser degree, Asia-Pacific.

Another 250 million euros ($271.4 million) were committed to Antin Infrastructure Partners’ Antin Infrastructure Partners V Fund, a closed-end fund targeting infrastructure investments in the energy and environment; telecom; transport; and social sectors, with a geographic focus on Europe and North America. The commitment to Antin Infrastructure Partners marks a new relationship for the pension fund.

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The pension fund also allotted $500 million within its credit portfolio to two funds managed by Golub Capital. It will invest $300 million in the Golub Sapphire Fund, a separately-managed account targeting opportunistic investments primarily in credit and credit-oriented instruments. The fund’s stated investment objective is to produce a blend of current income and principal appreciation, with an emphasis on capital preservation.

The other $200 million allotted to Golub Capital will go to the Golub Emerald Fund, also a separately-managed account targeting opportunistic investments in credit and credit-oriented instruments. The Emerald Fund will co-invest alongside the GEMS Funds and the Sapphire Fund. Golub Capital is also a new relationship for the pension fund.

Within its real estate portfolio, the pension has earmarked $300 million to Waterton Associates’ Waterton Residential Property Venture Fund, a closed-end commingled fund focused on acquiring and operating value-add apartments. It aims to invest in a balanced portfolio of value-add apartments located in the top 30 to 40 metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., based on population. Waterton Associates is also a new relationship for the pension fund.

Another $240 million was committed within the pension fund’s private equity portfolio to four funds. The NYSCRF will invest $150 million in the TowerBrook Investors VI fund from TowerBrook Capital Partners. The pension fund described TowerBrook as a generalist investor that will seek to deploy capital in control-oriented investments based on the relative attractiveness of opportunities. The investments will mainly be in North America and Europe.

A further $50 million will go to the TowerBrook Empire Opportunities fund, which will invest additional capital in co-investment opportunities alongside the TowerBrook Investors VI fund. Some $25 million is going to Insight Partners’ Insight Vision Capital II fund, which will seek investments in early-stage technology funds, mainly in North America. The remaining $15 million in private equity will go to the Armory Square Ventures III fund from Armory Square Ventures. The fund will target software and tech-enabled businesses, primarily in New York state.

In addition to the more than $3 billion in commitments made during the month, the pension fund also cashed out of the Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund within its public equity portfolio. At the time of liquidation, the account was valued at approximately $573 million, which was allocated to cash.

New York Common Commits More Than $600 Million in March Investments

New York Common Commits $1.3 Billion to Sustainable Program

Tags: absolute return, Antin Infrastructure Partners, EQT, Golub Capital, Infrastructure, Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures, New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYCRF), NYSCRF, Private Equity, Public Equity, Real Assets, Real Estate, TowerBrook Capital Partners, Waterton Associates

The C$247.2 billion ($186.9 billion) Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has promoted Bruce Crane to executive managing director and head of its Asia-Pacific region, effective immediately. He succeeds Ben Chan, who retired in June.

Crane was most recently a senior managing director, responsible for overseeing and managing infrastructure and natural resources investments for the pension fund in the Asia-Pacific region. Crane, who now reports to CIO Ziad Hindo, has been tasked with leading investment activities and portfolio management for the Asia-Pacific region at Ontario Teachers’ offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Mumbai, India. According to the pension fund, it currently has more than 85 employees in the region.

“As head of APAC, Bruce will play a leading role as we continue to progress our global growth strategy and deepen our investment activities across the region,” Hindo said in a release. “He has done an outstanding job over the last three years building our [infrastructure and natural resources] portfolio and team in the region. His extensive global experience, exceptional knowledge of the APAC region and the strong relationships he has cultivated both inside and outside the plan make him a natural choice for this expanded role.”

Crane joined the pension fund in 2020 as the first employee in its Singapore office, with a mandate to open an office there and staff it during the COVID lockdown. At the same time, he was also managing the pension fund’s infrastructure and natural resources portfolio in the Asia-Pacific region.

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Before joining OTPP, Crane worked for nearly 10 years at Toronto-based OMERS Infrastructure, the infrastructure investment adviser and manager of the Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System, where he most recently led their investments in Asia. He was also based in New York, where he focused on North and South America transport and energy investments. Prior to OMERS, Crane worked in investment banking at UBS and Morgan Stanley. Before that, he was a field engineer for Swiss global engineering conglomerate Foster Wheeler.

He holds a B.S. in civil engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from the Columbia Business School.