Connecticut Backs WCAS flagship fund

Connecticut Office of the State Treasurer at its April meeting considered a $125 million commitment to Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe’s 13th fund, according to a letter by State Treasurer Shawn Wooden.

WCAS XIII is a North American buyout fund focused on middle-market healthcare and technology companies, targeting $3.75 billion with a $4 billion hard cap, a memo shows.

The fund has handled more than $3.6 billion of capital commitments since inception in 2018 and will have a final close in July, per a memo from Laurie Martin, the treasurer’s chief investment officer.

In 2018, the flagship fund received $250 million commitments from each of New York City Pension Plans and Minnesota State Board of Investment, Buyouts previously reported.

Connecticut’s Private Investment Fund, which is used to make PE commitments, has an actual private equity allocation of $2.7 billion, according to the state’s 2018 annual report.

PIF makes up 7.89 percent of the entire fund and has a net compounded annual rate of return of 15.5 percent, as of June 30, 2018.

The deal will be finalized at Connecticut’s May meeting, Steven Jensen, director of communications at the treasurer’s office, told Buyouts in an email.