Carlyle to manage $150M investment fund for Indiana

Washington, D.C.-based Carlyle Group LP, the world’s second-biggest private-equity firm, was awarded a contract to manage a new $150 million investment fund on behalf of the Indiana Public Retirement System.

Carlyle and fund-of-funds investor AlpInvest Partners BV have opened an office in Indianapolis to manage Indiana Investment Fund II, Carlyle said in a prepared statement Monday. The fund will invest directly in deals, alongside other buyers, in private-equity funds, in real estate and credit, and in other opportunities directly or indirectly related to Indiana, according to the statement.

Curt Rossman, who managed the Public Employees Retirement System's Indiana Investment Fund I for Credit Suisse, has been hired by Carlisle to manage the Indiana office. Rossman previously worked for Lilly BioVentures and managed three life sciences funds started by Biocrossroads

Big private-equity investors such as public pension funds have turned to separately managed accounts to negotiate cheaper fees and retain some control in investment decisions, in exchange for locking up their money for a decade or more. Carlyle in 2011 struck a deal with the Municipal Employees’ Retirement System of Michigan to manage as much as $250 million in a separate account.

“By investing capital here in Indiana, INPRS achieves the dual goal of targeting premium rates of returns while nurturing Hoosier entrepreneurs and their businesses,” Steve Russo, the Indiana pension’s executive director, said in the statement.

Indiana’s pension system oversees $27.2 billion, serving 447,000 members and retirees, according to the statement.

Carlyle last week re-branded its funds-of-funds unit with the hire of Morgan Stanley’s Jacques Chappuis, who will run the solutions business when he joins the firm’s New York office in May. Carlyle will task Chappuis with creating new offerings for investors, including customized accounts, fund-of-funds investments, portfolio advice and risk management.