The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), one of the top public pension funds in the US, has announced that it will allocate an additional $200 million to its emerging manager program in the Private Equity asset class. CalPERS will use the fund-of-funds route to deploy the capital and will focus on high-potential emerging manager funds.
“This new allocation is a reflection of CalPERS ongoing commitment to emerging and diverse managers,” said Ted Eliopoulos, CalPERS Interim Chief Investment Officer. “Our goal is to generate appropriate, risk-adjusted investment returns by identifying early stage funds with strong potential for success.”
The new allocation will be deployed over four years and is in addition to a $100 million commitment made in 2012. In 2012, CalPERS adopted the Emerging Manager Five-Year Plan – Pathway to the Future (the Plan), which gives a strategic framework to guide CalPERS’ investments and engagement with emerging investment managers.
CalPERS has been investing with emerging managers directly and through fund of funds for more than 20 years.
The company has invested nearly $12 billion with 395 emerging managers across all of its emerging manager programs. The pension fund holds an LP portfolio with names like Battery Ventures, Carlyle Asia Partners and SAIF Partners.
According to its website, CalPERS has more than $280 billion in assets and administers health and retirement benefits on behalf of 3,064 public schools, local agencies and state employers. There are more than 1.6 million members in its retirement system and more than 1.3 million in its health plans.
Recently, CalPERS named Wylie A Tollette as the pension fund's chief operating investment officer (COIO).
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)