Arkansas teachers’ pension commits $135m across six funds

Many public pension funds are approaching allocation caps as frantic fundraising pace continues.

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System is nearing its total allocation for private equity for the year after announcing six new commitments totaling $135 million.

The fast pace of fundraising has resulted in multiple public pension funds nearing, approaching or breaching their allocation caps to private equity in 2022 even with six months to go.

Arkansas Teacher announced commitments of $15 million to Thoma Bravo Fund XV, $15 million to Thoma Bravo Discover Fund IV, $15 million to Thoma Bravo Explore Fund II, $30 million to Arlington Capital Partners VI and $30 million to Franklin Park Venture Capital Fund XIV.

The $21.7 billion pension fund also approved a $30 million commitment to the 11th fund from BV Investment Partners, which has a target of $1.5 billion and will focus on mid-market tech and IT service companies.

According to a presentation made to the investment committee at a meeting on June 6 by Michael Bacine, managing director of adviser Franklin Park, Arkansas Teacher has made a total of $255 million in private equity commitments this year.

Bacine added that Arkansas Teacher will invest in three more funds by the end of the year to reach its target allocation of $350 million. In a presentation before the fund’s investment committee, Bacine said the private equity portfolio had a one-year return of 25.5 percent.
He also touted the more than $1 billion in distributions the fund booked last year.

“The real highlight is all of the capital coming back,” Bacine said.