The $192 billion Teacher Retirement System of Texas in Austin continues to add to its real estate, infrastructure and private equity portfolios with another five managers selected in June.
The pension system, which is set to review its strategic asset allocation this summer, announced over $300 million in new allocations, on the heels of the $384 million in commitments it approved in May.
Most of the activity was in private equity, which saw $180 million in commitments split between three managers.
Graham Partners, a new manager in the PE program, saw an $80 million allocation to Graham Partners VI, a U.S. buyout fund that closed on July 3 with $1.8 billion in assets. The flagship strategy partners with technology-driven, advanced manufacturing companies in the North American middle-market that are active across three core subsectors — industrial technology, medical devices & life sciences, and food & consumer manufacturing. The Graham team said recently that it has completed three investments to date in the Fund and will seek to expand the portfolio over the coming months.
Kingswood Capital Management received $70 million from Texas Teachers for its Kingswood Capital Opportunities Fund III. The Los Angeles firm invests in U.S. buyouts and is focused on the lower middle-market. The first fund in the series closed in 2021 at $230 million.
The third private equity commitment was to NEA TS 2024 SPV, an NEA fund. The allocation totaled $25 million to the venture capital offering focused on Asia.
In real estate, a $75 million commitment was made at the end of June to GreenPoint Group’s GreenPoint REPE Fund I, which seeks to invest in operating companies expected to benefit from technology-driven change. GreenPoint received its first $50 million allocation from Texas Teachers last year.
Lastly, a new energy infrastructure manager for the pension, Riverbend Energy Group, saw a $74 million allocation to its Riverbend XI fund, which invests in the U.S. energy sector.