By Muskan Arora
The $113.9bn Virginia Retirement System noted a return of 9.9% for fiscal year 2024, net of fees, exceeding the 6.75% assumed rate of return.
The pension
fund over its three, five- and ten-years returns have exceeded its benchmark,
however for its 1-year return at 9.9% against a benchmark of 11.6%.
“A highly
diversified portfolio is central to our strategy. Through active management,
our investment team has added approximately $7.2 billion to the portfolio over
the past decade,” said Andrew Junkins, the CIO of the pension in a recent
statement.
The public
equity program had the strongest return of 20.1%, followed by its private
equity program at 5.8%. The system’s credit strategies returned 11.7%, along
with diversifying strategies returning 9.7%.
VRS’ private
investment partnerships portfolio returned 8.2%, its fixed income program
returned 3.8% with a negative return of -3.2% for its real assets’ portfolio.
“Inflation
has really moderated over the past year and has led us to the point where the
federal reserve looks poised to cut interest rates going forward,” said the CIO
as the system focuses on generating long term returns while managing risks.
Recent
commitments made by the system
Within its
private equity sleeve, VRS made three allocations in the past month.
The system
committed $250m to Thoma Bravo XVI, a mega buyout fund with a sole focus on
software industry; $750m to GCM Grosvenor VRS VI, a separate account with a
focus on investing in small market buyout and growth equity funds in the US and
Europe; $200m to EnCap Energy Capital Fund XII, a US focused upstream oil and
has fund.
Within its
real assets sleeve, the system committed $150m to Carlyle Realty Fund X, a
closed-end fund investing in diversified, opportunistic real estate in the
United States.
The system
also committed $200m to PineBridge Global Dynamic Asset Allocation, a multi
asset absolute return portfolio.
