Texas ERS and PAAMCO Launchpad to Host First Hedge Fund Emerging Manager Event in October

AUSTIN, Texas and IRVINE, Calif. and NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Employees Retirement System of Texas ("Texas ERS") and PAAMCO Launchpad today announced that their first hedge fund emerging manager event will be held on October 24-25, 2018, at KKR's office in New York City.  The event follows the creation of PAAMCO Launchpad, an innovative and well-funded co-investment platform for seeding and supporting emerging hedge funds.  Texas ERS is the inaugural partner with PAAMCO Launchpad.  The event is designed to bring together a select number of emerging managers from all over the country as well as certain other industry participants.

At the October event, the team will discuss their vision for the PAAMCO Launchpad platform, which was designed to identify, fund and inspire the next generation of top hedge fund talent.  PAAMCO Launchpad and Texas ERS invite interested managers to email [email protected] to indicate their interest in participating in this event.  PAAMCO Launchpad and Texas ERS will together invite approximately 40 managers to participate in the event.  Each invitee will be given 30 minutes to present their strategy and business to senior executives from Texas ERS and PAAMCO Launchpad.  

"We are excited to share our vision regarding this new platform with the investment community," said Texas ERS Deputy CIO Sharmila Kassam.  "ERS believes PAAMCO Launchpad is an innovative solution for supporting investment professionals considering their critical next career step toward their goals of becoming the newest and best emerging managers."

Scott C. Nuttall, Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of KKR and a member of the Board of Managers of PAAMCO Prisma Holdings, said, "The PAAMCO Launchpad partnership with Texas ERS is an important component of PAAMCO's hedge fund business and their effort to provide institutional investors with alpha-generating solutions based on a transparent alignment of interests and an opportune value proposition."

"We look forward to executing on our larger vision for PAAMCO Launchpad, along with Texas ERS as our initial partner and with the full support of KKR," said Andrew Gitlin, CEO of PAAMCO Launchpad.  "We believe the PAAMCO Launchpad platform will help evolve the hedge fund industry and will showcase the important role emerging managers play in institutional portfolios.  Our inaugural emerging manager event with Texas ERS and KKR is an important part of this effort."

About Texas ERS

The Employees Retirement System of Texas manages benefits for employees and retirees of State of Texas agencies and some higher education institutions.  These benefits contribute to the financial security and overall well-being of employees, retirees and their families. They are an important part of the compensation package of state agency and institution employees.  Texas ERS' Mission: ERS offers competitive benefits to enhance the lives of its members.

About PAAMCO Launchpad

Pacific Alternative Asset Management Company, LLC ("PAAMCO") is a leading institutional investment firm dedicated to offering alternative investment solutions to the world's preeminent investors. Headquartered in Irvine, California, with a footprint that extends across the globe, PAAMCO serves institutional investors, including large public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, foundations, endowments, insurance companies and financial institutions.

PAAMCO Launchpad is the latest addition to the PAAMCO Prisma suite of institutional liquid alpha solutions.  KKR's former hedge fund affiliate Prisma Capital Partners LP ("Prisma") combined with PAAMCO in June 2017 to form a new holding company, PAAMCO Prisma Holdings, LLC.  PAAMCO and Prisma together had more than $30 billion of assets under management or advisement as of the end of the second quarter of 2018.   Each of PAAMCO and Prisma is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a wholly-owned subsidiary of PAAMCO Prisma Holdings, LLC.

SOURCE PAAMCO