Connecticut re-ups with Landmark

Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has made a commitment to Landmark Partners‘ latest private equity secondaries fund.

Connecticut decided to invest $100 million in Landmark Equity Partners XVI based on feedback from the state’s investment advisory council and fund consultant StepStone Group, treasurer Denise Nappier announced after the pension’s September investment meeting.

Completion is contingent on the successful negotiation of a partnership agreement, Nappier added.

Connecticut is a regular investor in Landmark’s funds, having invested $100 million in each of 2010-vintage Landmark Equity Partners XIV and 2013-vintage XV, “both of which have returned strong results”, she said.

Fund IX had achieved a net internal rate of return of 10.27 percent and a net multiple of 1.28x as of September 2016, according to a February performance review from the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System.

According to a presentation prepared by State Street for the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, Landmark Equity Partners XV had a net internal rate of return of 10.94 percent and a net multiple of 1.17x as of September 2016.

The only other dedicated secondaries vehicle in which Connecticut has invested is Lexington Partners’ $1.1 billion, 1998-vintage Lexington Capital Partners II, according to PEI data.

Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds has $32.4 billion in assets under management, according to PEI data. It has 9.1 percent of its portfolio invested in private equity, against a target of 11 percent.

Landmark wants to raise $4 billion for Private Equity Secondaries Fund XVI, which has a hard-cap of $4.7 billion, Secondaries Investor reported in November.

The fund will invest in proprietary deals in order to secure better pricing, according to a presentation at a New Mexico State Investment Council meeting last October. “For us, it’s better to identify a seller before they decide to be a seller,” Landmark’s chairman and chief executive Francisco Borges said at the meeting.

Other recent investors in Landmark XVI include San Antonio Fire & Police Police Fund with $20 million, Arkansas Teacher Retirement System with $25 million, and New York State Common Retirement Fund with $200 million.