Treasurer Wooden Announces More Than $350M Of Commitments

Press release from the Treasurer's Office:

Feb. 11, 2021

At Wednesday's Investment Advisory Council (IAC) meeting, Connecticut State Treasurer Shawn T. Wooden announced his decision to commit $75 million to Grain Communications Opportunity Fund III (Grain), plus an additional $50 million to a “side car” vehicle for co-investments with Grain. Treasurer Wooden also announced his decision to invest $100 million in Insight Partners Opportunity Fund I, and $125 million in One Rock Capital Partners III Fund.

“These new commitments represent financially advantageous opportunities for the Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Funds,” said Treasurer Shawn Wooden. “These investments will add strategic diversification with top managers that will increase our investments in private markets opportunities consistent with our long-term investment strategy.”

The Treasurer provided a 2020 capital markets review, the Connecticut Retirement Plans & Trust Funds (CRPTF’s) performance outcomes for December 2020, and comment on conditions and returns for January and February to date.

“Despite heightened market volatility that dominated the markets in 2020 and are persistent in 2021, we have remained strategically consistent and tactically nimble,” said Treasurer Wooden. “As long-term investors, we are adhering to our investment policies and carefully monitoring market conditions while continuing to balance the risk and return expectations for our portfolio of investments.”

Principal Investment Officer Michael Terry presented an overview of the Office’s cash and liquidity funds, which Treasurer Wooden started managing internally in February 2020. The presentation included the Office’s approach, and resources dedicated to managing short-term investments as well as insights into current market conditions and the practicalities of managing cash in today’s challenging market environment.

Treasurer Wooden also updated the IAC on the Brokerage Program through the end of 2020. The Program focuses on supporting trade execution with a range of priority entities, including Connecticut-based firms, women and minority-owned companies, as well as brokerages owned and staffed by veterans and disabled persons. In the past nine-months the Program expanded its policy to include more investment managers, challenging them to prioritize Connecticut-based, emerging, and diverse brokerages that demonstrate best execution practices. Participation numbers have improved substantially, indicating strong momentum within the Program.

Treasurer Wooden also proposed revisions to the CRPTF’s domestic proxy voting policies that are designed to ensure that the State’s proxy voting activities align with the broader objectives to maximize returns and safeguard shareholder value, which includes holding boards accountable for board diversity, climate risk, and director independence. Since assuming Office, the Treasurer has been part of several initiatives to improve the quality and quantity of information about board composition for the benefit of all investors interested in holding boards accountable, promoting transparency, and engaging in more effective efforts to achieve and maintain board diversity. Some of the initiatives include the Northeast Investors’ Diversity Initiative (NIDI), that advocates for gender, racial and ethnic board diversity, as well as an effort with the Illinois Treasury urging companies listed on the Russell 3000 to voluntary disclose the racial/ethnic composition of their boards of directors.

“There is a mounting body of evidence that the diversity of a company’s board of directors is an important attribute of a well-functioning board, an indicator of sound corporate governance, and positively correlated with increased shareholder value.” continued Treasurer Shawn Wooden.

This press release was produced by the Treasurer's Office. The views expressed here are the author's own.