By Lauren Bailey
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Fund (CRPTF) is considering increasing its allocation to a customized private credit fund, as it continues prioritizing expanding on relationships with existing, high-quality managers in the sector.
As the market continues to experience economic and geopolitical uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions have decreased in the second quarter of 2025, said the CRPTF’s July meeting materials, noting that, due to the current economic environment, the pension fund’s private credit fund (PCF) managers have “maintained stricter underwriting standards to mitigate potential risks….”
Still, the investment team noted opportunities were on the horizon, such as coming maturities or challenged balance sheets, that could add diversity to the portfolio through top-performing managers. One of the opportunities the investment team is mulling is in increasing its allocation to the Crescent CRPTF Private Credit fund by $300M.
The private credit fund is an existing customized fund-of-one vehicle that closed in June 2022. Crescent Capital, headquartered in Los Angeles, was co-founded by managing partners Mark Attanasio and Jean-Marc Chapus. According to the meeting materials, roughly half (49%) of the firm is owned by the Crescent team, with the majority interest held by Sun Life Financial. The firm has offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, and Europe.
The CRPTF previously invested $300M in the Crescent fund, and while the allocation increase wouldn’t change the existing terms, the materials noted the pension fund would benefit from a lower management fee.
“The Crescent CRPTF Private Credit recommendation supports several PCF strategic plan objectives, including scaling capital commitments behind existing managers delivering attractive returns, while benefitting from the vehicle’s evergreen structure and favorable fee structure,” noted the materials.
Currently, two-thirds (66%) of the CRPTF’s market value is allocated to senior investments with a higher repayment priority, while 21% is allocated to special situations, and 13% to mezzanine investments. Senior investments also make up the majority (60%) of the CRPTF’s total portfolio exposure, followed by mezzanine (22%) and special sits (18%).
In Q2 2025, the CRPTF also closed commitments to a new HarbourVest CT Private Debt Partnership and an upsized ICG co-investment program.
