Fundraising

Florida commits $1.1bn to private equity

The $97bn pension, which has seen the value of its assets plunge by about $30bn since last summer, increased its upper limit allocation ceiling to the asset class to 7 percent from 5 percent in December to alleviate over-weighting.

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The Florida Retirement System’s board of administration has made $1.1 billion in commitments to private equity funds since September.

The $97 billion pension has a target allocation to private equity of 4 percent with a ceiling of 7 percent. The allocation ceiling was increased in December from 5 percent to help alleviate the pension from over-weighting in the asset class. The pension’s actual allocation to private equity stood at 4.4 percent as of 30 October.

The commitments Florida has made since September include $200 million each to Blackstone’s $8 billion sixth fund and First Reserve Fund XII, which is targeting $12 billion and reached $8 billion as of December.

Florida also pledged $100 million to Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund III; $150 million to the $750 million ABRY Advanced Securities Fund; $50 million to the $500 million Cressey & Company Fund IV; $150 million to TCW Crescent Mezzanine Partners V, which has collected $2.5 billion, and $250 million to $5.7 billion CVI Global Value Fund A-Class P.

Florida’s pension is the fourth largest in the US. The value of the pension’s assets plunged $30 billion from $126.9 billion on 30 June 2008 to $97 billion in December.