NYS Common backs Clearlake, Warburg Pincus funds

  • New York commits $10 mln to Adamantem debut
  • $225 mln commitments to Clearlake, Warburg Pincus
  • New York has 7.6 pct allocation to PE

New York State Common Retirement Fund inked a pair of re-ups in March as it allocated $235 million across three private equity funds, an investment disclosure from the $209.1 billion pension system shows.

New York’s largest commitment went to Clearlake Capital Group, which closed its latest flagship fund on more than $3.6 billion in mid-March, beating its $2.5 billion target. The system secured a $125 million allocation to the fund on March 15.

Clearlake Capital Partners V will acquire companies in the software/technology, industrial, energy and consumer sectors. The fund can be used to pursue traditional LBOs and special-situations investments.

New York also committed $100 million to Warburg Pincus’s first dedicated financial sector fund, which raised $2.3 billion. As with the firm’s other sector and regional-specific funds, Warburg Pincus Financial Sector Fund will invest on a 50-50 basis alongside the firm’s flagship funds.

The retirement system has previously invested in funds managed by both Clearlake and Warburg Pincus, the investment disclosure says.

The system also committed $10 million to Adamantem Capital’s debut fund through a separate account managed by Asia Alternatives.

Adamantem, based in Sydney, will use its fund to invest in small and midsized businesses in Australia and New Zealand. The fund had raised a little less than $100 million as of last July, according to an SEC filing.

NYS Common’s PE portfolio is one of the largest in the country. The private equity program represented 7.6 percent of the pension system’s assets as of Dec. 31.

Action Item: More on the retirement fund: www.osc.state.ny.us/index.htm

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. Photo courtesy of NYS Common.