Capital Constellation, managed by Kuwait’s Wafra, has won a new partner in Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP), which joins an array of state-owned investors backing the private equity platform.
Having made an initial capital contribution of US$75 million, CPP joins Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation (APFC), the Public Institution for Social Security of Kuwait (PIFSS), Railpen, Sweden’s AP3 public pension fund, and New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF), among other asset owners, as a member of Constellation’s Strategic Committee. With AUM of US$33 billion, Constellation's manager Wafra was established by the PIFSS over three decades ago and today invests on behalf of the Kuwaiti public pension fund and asset owners around the world.
CPP’s commitment to the NYC-based Constellation follows the US$116 billion Hartford Investment Management Company’s (HIMCO) in July, the US$23 billion Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS) in January, and the US$272 billion NYSCRF in December. Altogether, Constellation brings together asset owners with US$2 trillion AUM.
With AUM of US$406 billion, CPP channels around 15% of its investments through private equity funds and co-investments, demonstrating a strong interest in investing with GPs as well as alongside other LPs. Capital Constellation enables it to work in concert with other LPs to invest in GPs.
The Constellation strategy now has 15 GP partner firms with a wide range of products, including Industrials, Renewables, Telecom, Healthcare, FinTech, Financials and Credit. Its orientation is towards specialists and new economy sectors where we believe our asset owners will have an increasing appetite in the decade ahead and where we can solve shared objectives together.
Daniel Adamson, President of Constellation and a Senior Managing Director of Wafra, said, “CPP Investments joining Constellation is directly aligned with Constellation’s investment thesis and the work we’ve done over the last five years. In CPP Investments, Constellation and its partners benefit from a likeminded thought leader with the ability to act as a strategic partner and liquidity resource.”
In an interview with Global SWF, Daniel Adamson, stated that the platform’s “vision is of an ecosystem of top quality asset owners working in an aligned way with 30 or 40 GP partners, using a tech-enabled system to connect buyers and sellers within the ecosystem. While Wafra provides the gravity to hold it together, Constellation shines because of its collection of stars.
“Our orientation is towards specialists and new economy sectors where we believe our asset owners will have an increasing appetite in the decade ahead and where we can solve shared objectives together.”
