Teacher Retirement System of Texas opens London office

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas will open its first international office London in November, the fund said.

TRS expects the number of investment opportunities in the UK and Europe to increase, especially in co-investments, after the UK office is established.

Operations at the new office will be led by the Investment Management Division’s former director of special projects, Vaughn Brock.

Two staff members from the Austin office will relocate to London with one European investment professional joining the new branch.

“We are confident that our new London office will give TRS a strategic advantage in terms of identifying investment opportunities in the United Kingdom and Europe that can deliver greater returns at a lower cost to our members,” TRS board chairman R. David Kelly said in the statement.

The European office will allow TRS to redeploy existing resources closer to PE activities in the region and save staff members travel between Europe and Austin, executive director Brian Guthrie said.

TRS is expected to provide a status report to its board of trustees at its 24-25 September meeting in Austin.

TRS currently manages $133.9 billion in assets and allocates 8.78 percent to private equity, according to PEI’s Research & Analytics division. Between March 2009 and February 2014, TRS committed $8.61 billion to PE funds and $1.43 billion to direct private equity investments.