Florida State creates new PE portfolio position

Florida’s State Board of Administration is seeking to fill a newly-created position of portfolio manager in its strategic investment and private equity department, which includes timberland.

The Florida State Board of Administration is seeking to hire a portfolio manager for its strategic investment and private equity department, according to its website.

“It’s a new position within strategic investments and we’re looking for someone familiar with private equity-type [investment] structures,” a spokesman for the SBA, which manages Florida’s retirement system with $182.6 billion in assets, told Private Equity International.

A significant part of the new portfolio manager position’s responsibilities will include managing relationships with fund managers, as well as conducting due diligence-related activities, portfolio strategy, and staff management.

The SBA has allocated $8.9 billion to private equity and $10.2 billion to strategic investments, which it views as its “opportunistic bucket” that includes timberland, infrastructure, real estate, high yield, hedge funds and fixed income, the spokesperson said. Some investment categories within its strategic allocations might have private equity-type structures, he added.

This year, the SBA plans to commit capital to small buyout, growth equity, distressed and turnaround funds in North America and small buyout funds in Europe, according to PEI Research & Analytics.

Of its portfolio, 5.9 percent is allocated to private equity and 6.8 percent to strategic investments, according to its 31 May performance report. Within private equity, the SBA has committed capital to Carlyle Europe Partners IV fund, a €3.75 billion vehicle that closed on 29 July, according to PEI Research & Analytics.

Last year, the state board committed $2.06 billion to 26 funds, with $1.25 billion committed to 16 buyout funds, $278 million to four growth equity funds, $182.5 million to 4 venture funds and $350 million to two secondary funds.

Reporting by Kelly Holman.