The $30bn Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS) has invested $600m in funds running direct lending and strategic credit strategies.

The Austin-based pension allocated $500m to Ares European Credit Strategies Fund X, managed by alternatives specialist Ares Management, on 3 December, according to its website.

It also wrote a $100m ticket for Arbour Lane – TX on 5 December, having invested the same amount in August.

The Ares investment brings TCDRS’s direct lending spend to $995m for the year.

The fund is managed by $125bn Ares’s European direct lending platform, which focuses on self-originated investments in illiquid credits in Europe.

The Ares European direct lending team is headquartered in London with offices in Paris, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Luxembourg, and managed $13.9bn across over 175 institutional investors as of 30 September, according to its website.

Stamford, Connecticut-headquartered Arbour Lane was launched in 2016 by the former distressed trading unit of Credit Suisse, after its $1.3bn portfolio was acquired by TPG.

The firm is run by CIO Bob Franz and director of research and strategy Ken Hoffman.

The strategic credit bucket has an 8% allocation target and sits within a larger credit portfolio with a 20% target. Direct lending takes up 10% of the credit target.

TCDRS uses Cliffwater as its consultant.

TCDRS pumps $600m into direct lending, strategic credit on HFM InvestHedge.