Maryland Pension Eyes PE Consultant Search; Sweden Awards $18.3B in Tech Mandates

Maryland Pension Eyes PE Consultant Search

Sweden Awards $18.3B in Tech Mandates

The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System is preparing for its next private equity consultant and looking to add investment staff to support a larger private credit allocation, as CIO Dianne Sandoval continues expanding Maryland's internally managed portfolio, which she said saved the system approximately $18.6M in external fees last year. Sandoval also flagged plans to increase activity with emerging managers, calling the system's recent progress with diverse and Maryland-based managers "frankly disappointing."

Among other allocators, Sweden's Fund Selection Agency awarded roughly $18.25B in premium pension assets to seven managers – including Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Janus Henderson Investors Europe and Schroder Investment Management – across eight actively managed global technology funds; and the Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Kentucky committed a combined $180M across private equity, natural resources and secondaries strategies managed by Audax Private Equity, NGP Natural Resources, and GCM Grosvenor.

On the GP fundraising side, Schroders Capital closed Schroders Capital Private Equity Global Direct IV at $1.3B, calling it the firm's largest closed-ended commingled private equity fund to date; and EnTrust Global's Blue Ocean strategy launched a third onshore vehicle targeting $2B, with a December first close expected, continuing its focus on shipping and offshore energy financing as banks retreat from maritime lending.

In leadership news, Northwestern Medicine hired Harisha Haigh as CIO from Northwestern University, where she spent more than two decades on the investment team, most recently leading its private investments and real assets portfolio. Separately, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas said CIO Jase Auby will retire Jan. 31, 2027, after a nationwide search for his successor.