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Illinois Teachers’ outlines FY2021 private equity plan

The US public pension has indicated how it intends to meet its private equity portfolio pacing plan.

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Institution: Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois
Headquarters: Springfield, United States
AUM: $52.92 billion
Allocation to private equity: 12.0%

Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois set out an FY2021 tactical private equity portfolio plan at its August 2020 investment committee meeting, a contact at the pension informed Private Equity International.

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Highlights from Illinois Teachers’ August 2020 investment committee meeting:

  • Committed $50 million to Stellex Capital Partners II through the pension’s emerging manager programme. This is a new manager relationship for Illinois Teachers’.
  • Set out target allocations to private equity sub-sectors as follows:
    • Corporate finance: 75-80 percent of private equity portfolio
    • Growth equity: 5-10 percent
    • Venture capital: 10-15 percent
    • Special situations: 5-10 percent
    • Confirmed intention to review non-US strategy of private equity portfolio through pursuit of potential SMAs in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
  • Will discuss special situations strategy with investment consultant StepStone so as to best position portfolio to benefit from near- and medium-term market dislocation.
  • Affirmed commitment to deploying capital with diverse managers as an ongoing pension-wide initiative.

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Illinois Teachers’ current allocation to private equity stands at 12 percent of its $52.92 billion assets under management – around $6.4 billion. The pension’s target is 15 percent of total assets (around $7.9 billion). Since the turn of the year, the pension has made 14 commitments to private equity funds, totalling $1.6 billion.

Stan Rupnik is Illinois Teachers’ chief investment officer and acting executive director. Mr Rupnik has been with the pension since April 2003. Jerry Quandt acts as senior investment officer for the private equity portfolio.

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