The Kentucky County Employees’ Retirement System has allocated $70m to the Arctos American Football Fund, a private equity vehicle investing in NFL franchises and other sports assets.

At its March 10 meeting, the board also hired J.P. Morgan Asset Management and T. Rowe Price Group to manage $383m each in active domestic large-cap equities.

J.P. Morgan will oversee a U.S. large-cap core equity strategy, while T. Rowe Price will run a structured research equity strategy. The funding comes from the termination of a $397m internally managed large-cap factor-based portfolio and a reduction in an internally managed S&P 500 index portfolio.

Investment staff and Wilshire Advisors recommended shifting to external managers, citing the underperformance of factor-based strategies. They noted that active management with lower tracking error and reasonable fees would add value.

In addition, the board approved a $75m commitment to the American Rivers Fund, an open-end fund managed by Maritime Partners. This investment, which targets marine transportation leasing, builds on the pension fund’s initial $175m commitment in 2023.

The Kentucky County Employees’ Retirement System oversees $10.1bn in assets for nonhazardous employees and $3.6bn for hazardous employees. These latest investment decisions reflect its strategic approach to diversifying assets and enhancing returns.