Jay Ripley

LASERS is a public trust fund created in 1946 to provide retirement allowances and other benefits for state officers and employees and their beneficiaries. LASERS manages about $7.7 billion in assets and has a 11% allocation to hedge funds and a 12% allocation to private equity funds. The system does not invest in real estate funds. LASERS will be making its first investments into commodities in the second quarter of 2011. The firm will invest via an enhanced index strategy. LASERS has several internal staff and also utilizes New England Pension Consultants as a general consultant for assistance with due diligence of both traditional and alternative investments.LASERS' hedge fund allocation is made up of investments wtih 3 funds of funds (K2, PAAMCO, GAM) and 2 hedge funds (Bridgewater and Stark). The firm's private equity allocation is made up largely of funds of funds investments but it also has a few single-managers in its portfolio. At this time, LASERS is focusing on its commodities search but will begin to look at its hedge fund portfolio again at about mid-2011.