San Diego pension fund commits $50m to FountainVest
The San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) has committed $50 million to FountainVest China Growth Capital Fund II. FountainVest Partners, set up by former Temasek Holdings executives in 2007, raised $950 million for its first vehicle four years ago and is targeting $1.25 billion this time around.
The news comes after FountainVest secured $150 million from Washington State Investment Board in April. The pension fund previously committed $50 million to the GP's debut vehicle, investing alongside the likes of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, CDC Group and Temasek.
SDCERA had $8.2 billion in assets under management at the end of 2011, of which 3.3% has been deployed in private equity assets and a further 7.7% in unfunded commitments. Developing Asia accounts for 4% of SDCERA's private equity portfolio and the GPs it backs that are active in the region include Baring Private Equity Asia, TPG Capital, Bain Capital, The Blackstone Group, Capital International and HarbourVest Partners.
SDCERA tends to make allocations of $25-75 million, and last month it agreed to invest $75 million in TPG's sixth Asia-focused fund.
FountainVest China Growth Fund generated a gross IRR of 33% and a gross multiple of 1.45x as of December 31, 2011. Three quarters of the capital has been deployed across 10 portfolio companies, including Central China Real Estate, web portal Sina, CITIC Pharmaceutical, Zhaoheng Hydropower, die casting manufacturer LK Technology Holdings, online diamond retailer Zbird and jewelry retailer Enzo.
There were two full or partial exits in 2011, generating a gross IRR in excess of 66%.
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