PA Employees’ commits $75 mln to Blackstone mega-fund

Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System at its June meeting backed a global private equity fund from Blackstone Group.

The system committed up to $75 million to Blackstone Capital Partners VIII as a follow-on investment, targeting more than $20 billion. The fund makes large-cap control and control-oriented private equity investments, according to a press release.

Pennsylvania’s latest commitment is in line with its 2018-2019 investment plan that saw it “target private equity commitments of $75 million or more, in best-in-class funds to build long-term strategic partnerships, improve operational efficiency by reducing the number of funds, and improve SERS’ leverage to negotiate lower management fees.”

The system’s sole pledge in June is a far cry from its commitments in April, where it invested $875 million to private equity funds from Ares Management, Intermediate Capital Group, Permira and Ardian Investment Switzerland.

Pennsylvania set its annual pacing target to $650 million in new private equity commitments to hit its 16 percent target allocation, according to its pacing plan.