SWIB plans to invest $50m with Mason Wells and Venture Investors

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board, which manages the 10th largest U.S. pension fund for public employees, said late on Wednesday that it has preliminary approval to put up to $50 million into state venture capital funds.

The investment would be split between Mason Wells Biomedical Fund II and Venture Investors Early Stage Fund IV.

SWIB has made previous investments with both firms – $45 split between the two in 2000. It followed that with $90 million split between Baird Venture Partners, in Milwaukee, and Frazier Technology Ventures, which operates out of Seattle but opened a Madison office when SWIB invested.

Both funds are expected to invest primarily in Wisconsin life-science firms and research, said Monica Jaehnig, a portfolio manager with SWIB.

SWIB's total portfolio is worth around $78 billion, of which $73 billion is a pension fund for 520,000 public employees.