The National Pensions Reserve Fund has sold its entire private equity portfolio, most recently valued at €716m, to a US secondary private equity manager.

In a statement, the fund said Lexington Partners had agreed to acquire an estimated €800m in fund holdings and outstanding commitments, spread across two dozen private equity funds.

The sale, initiated in September last year, is expected to finalise in the coming months, the NPRF added.

The reserve fund decided to sell its private equity holdings, comprising close to 11% of its discretionary portfolio, as part of a shift in asset allocation ahead of the €6.8bn portfolio’s transformation into the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

The ISIF, unlike the NPRF, will invest in Ireland with the aim of stimulating economic activity in the wake of the country’s bailout.

As a result, the NPRF will gradually sell off its non-domestic holdings so the cash can be redeployed.

In other news, a £650m (€790m) London pension fund is to increase its exposure to alternatives, investing £50m in the asset class.

The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Pension Fund has asked bfinance to oversee the diversified alternatives tender process, allocated more than a year ago after it decided to overhaul its investment strategy.

As part of the shift, the fund said it would also invest an undisclosed amount in social housing or inflation-linked real estate – with manager interviews scheduled to be conducted for both mandates in March.

“With these changes, it is hoped that the fund will be flexible and responsive to adapt to changes in the future,” the fund’s 2014 Business Plan said.

Its tender said it would appoint one manager to the diversified alternatives portfolio, managing the money either as a segregated account or a pooled fund.

Asset managers have until 10 March to apply, with further information available from bfinance’s London office.

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