Virginia Retirement creates $150 mln credit mandate with KKR

  • AUM: $77.3 bln
  • Contact: Virginia Sowers, vsowers@varetire.org
  • Why this is important: The system is terminating agreements as it rebalances its asset classes.

Virginia Retirement System at its May 13 meeting said it made commitments to and terminated its relationship with funds within its credit-strategies program, the system’s communications strategy manager, Virginia Sowers, told Buyouts.

The system committed $150 million to KKR’s Real Estate Credit Opportunity Partners Fund II, which “invests in the junior bonds… of commercial mortgage-backed securities,” a description of the fund says.

The $150 million commitment began in March and will be funded for two years, according to meeting notes.

KKR closed its first RECOP fund at $1.1 billion in 2017. The current target for KKR RECOP II is unclear.

Virginia ended its relationship with Oaktree Capital Management, removing it from a $467 million convertible-bond portfolio in April.

“The termination of Oaktree was related to a consolidation within the asset class due to a plan-wide rebalancing decision,” Sowers told Buyouts.

Oaktree did not immediately respond to Buyouts request for comment.