Michigan’s $6.5 billion Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (MERS) yesterday said that it has retained AlpInvest and The Carlyle Group to invest $750 million on the pension system’s behalf.
The 5-year deal with AlpInvest is expected to cover $500 million worth of LP commitments into alternative funds, secondary deals and co-investments. There also is a $250 million managed account with The Carlyle Group, which quietly completed its acquisition of AlpInvest on July 1.
Two related notes:
1. This deal will represent the first time MERS has ever invested with The Carlyle Group.
2. It is mostly a one-off, rather than the first of many such announcements. When Carlyle first agreed to acquire AlpInvest back in January, I reported that the plan was to focus on existing commitments from a pair of major Dutch pension funds, and only add “a new select investors… for at least the next few years.” My understanding is that nothing has changed in that regard.
