The New York State Common Retirement Fund"™s (Fund) investment in Canandaigua-based ClearMomentum has generated a $450,000 investment gain, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli announced today. ClearMomentum is one of hundreds of companies across the state that the Fund invests in through its In-State Private Equity Investment Program. Since its inception, the program has returned nearly $300 million to the Fund.
"ClearMomentum is part of a growing list of highly successful investments made by the Fund in New York companies," said DiNapoli. "The In-State Private Equity Investment Program has helped grow the pension fund while supporting jobs and fueling local economies. Our program continues to serve as a model for public pension funds around the country looking to develop similar In-State programs."
ClearMomentum develops software used by private equity investors to monitor investments. The Fund invested in the company through Trillium Group, a managing partner for the In-State Program, in 2010 ($500,000) and in 2009 ($250,000). Through the program, the Fund has made a total of 26 investments in companies located in the Finger Lakes region.
"Trillium Group is pleased to have provided ClearMomentum with the expansion capital that allowed it to grow and prosper. In so doing, the investment provided attractive financial returns to the New York State Common Retirement Fund, as well as created a number of high quality jobs within the region," said Kevin Phelps, general partner for Trillium Group.
The In-State Private Equity Investment Program, designed to make profitable investments in New York State-based companies, has invested $786 million in 298 companies and has supported nearly 4,000 jobs across the state. There is $467 million available for new investments. Read about the pension fund’s In-State Private Equity Investment Program.
About the Common Retirement Fund
New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is trustee of the $176.8 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third largest public pension plan in the United States with more than one million members, retirees and beneficiaries from more than 3,000 state and local government employers. The Fund has a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate and alternative instruments and has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation. Over the past 20 years, 80 percent of the cost of benefit payments has been funded by investment returns. The Fund’s fiscal year ends March 31, 2015.
About Trillium Group, LLC
Trillium Group is a Rochester-based venture capital group with a primary focus on growth equity investment opportunities located in western New York. Trillium’s current portfolio consists of more than 20 companies in a broad range of industry sectors and businesses.
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