SWIB approves over $1.1bn in commitments

Institution: State of Wisconsin Investment Board
Headquarters: Madison, US
AUM: $148.90 billion
Allocation to alternatives: 17.3%

State of Wisconsin Investment Board has confirmed more than $1.1 billion-worth of private equity commitments to 15 vehicles, according to the pension’s June 2021 board meeting materials.

The new commitments comprise $350 million to Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners X; $200 million to PSG Encore Warehouse; $100 million to Atlas Capital Resources IV; $75 million to Sterling Group Credit Fund II; $60 million to Charlesbank Equity Fund X alongside $15 million to Fund X’s Overage vehicle; $60 million to JMI Equity Fund X; $50 million apiece to Percheron Capital Fund I, Hedosophia Partners IV and Activant Capital IV; $35 million to Avenue Growth Partners Fund I; and $25 million each to Shamrock Capital Debt Opportunities Fund I and VMG Partners V.

SWIB also confirmed a pair of add-on commitments to two vehicles it had already allocated to: $20 million to Great Range Capital Fund II and $15 million to Seaside Equity Partners I. This brings the pension’s stake in these two funds to $55 million and $50 million, respectively.

At the end of Q3 2020, SWIB’s private equity portfolio (excluding investments in venture capital and private debt) had a market value of approximately $8.8 billion, representing 8 percent of the pension’s Core Trust Fund, which comprises most of its assets.

By the end of 2020, the private equity portfolio had risen to $9.4 billion in value, though the asset class’s allocation as a proportion of SWIB’s CTF had dropped to 7.8 percent. This slight drop in private equity’s effective current allocation reflected the pension’s assets sharply rising in the final three months of the year.

SWIB also mentioned that including its investments in venture capital and private debt, the pension envisaged its wider private equity portfolio eventually comprising up to 11 percent of its total investment portfolio in the next 12-24 months.

As illustrated below, the $148.9 billion pension’s recent private equity commitments have predominantly targeted North American funds investing across a variety of sectors.

Platinum subscribers may click here for the investor’s full profile, including key contacts, allocation strategy and fund investments.