Firms & Funds

Santa Barbara Co. committed $62.3 mln to PE in ’18, added Thoma Bravo

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Santa Barbara County, private equity, Thoma Bravo
The Santa Barbara, California, Mission. The Roman Catholic landmark is registered as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. tupungato/iStock/Getty Images
  • Why this is important: Santa Barbara pension expands list of GPs to include Thoma Bravo
  • $3 bln AUM pension near 10 pct PE allocation target
  • PE portfolio shift to growth equity, North America, tech
  • Contact: +1 877-568-2940

The $3 billion Santa Barbara County Employees Retirement System committed $62.3 million to private equity in 2018, adding Thoma Bravo to its roster of general partners in the asset class.

The system made seven commitments last year, a report produced for its December meeting shows. All the commitments went to existing relationships, except for Thoma Bravo.

The pension’s 2018 commitments included:

  • $10 million to American Securities Partners VIII, a $7 billion large North American buyout strategy;
  • $10 million to Kelso Investment Associates X, a $2.5 billion middle-market North American buyout fund;
  • $10 million to TPG Tech Adjacencies LP,  a $1.5 billion global growth-equity fund focused on tech companies delaying going public;
  • $9.8 million to Platinum Equity Small Cap Fund, a $1.5 billion lower-middle market North American buyout fund;
  • $10 million to TCV X, a $2.5 billion growth equity fund focused on North America;
  • $5 million to Thoma Bravo XIII, a $9 billion North American mega buyout fund;
  • $7.5 million to Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners IX, a $15 billion North America mega buyout fund

The Santa Barbara pension has a 10 percent target allocation to PE, and its actual allocation was 9.4 percent as of June 2018.

Recent commitments increased the pension’s allocation to North America, growth equity and technology companies from a year earlier, according to the report, prepared by SBCERS’s PE consultant, Hamilton Lane.

By PE strategy, SBCERS’s portfolio is 19 percent megabuyout, 17 percent large buyout, 22 percent mid-market buyout, 9 percent small buyout, 9 percent distressed debt, 8 percent growth equity, 10 percent venture capital, 1 percent secondaries, 1 percent direct and 4 percent special situations.

Action Item: Read SBCERS’s latest PE performance report here https://bit.ly/2VFIeUL