State of New Jersey

Director and Chief Investment Officer Shoaib Khan leads the investment team and executes the strategic asset allocation approved by the State Investment Council. The Council is chaired by Deepak Raj and serves as the governing body that sets policy and reviews commitments. Khan's team manages the day-to-day portfolio construction, manager selection, and direct investment activity across all asset classes.

The Division relies heavily on a concentrated network of top-quartile general partners, with Blackstone Group standing out as a particularly significant strategic relationship. The fund accesses large-scale buyout, real estate, and credit opportunities through re-up commitments to existing managers, while selectively evaluating new relationships. Its internal direct investment activity, such as the public equity positions in Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital, reflects a willingness to bypass managers entirely for high-conviction thematic trades.

The Division participates in co-investments across multiple asset classes as part of a strategy to reduce fee drag and increase exposure to performing assets. Its co-investment activity spans buyout, growth, and real estate deals, typically alongside managers with whom it has an existing fund commitment. The fund uses a co-investment multi-manager structure to efficiently diligence and execute these opportunities.

While the bulk of the portfolio is deployed through commingled fund structures and separate accounts, the fund also engages in direct co-investments and direct public equity purchases. The positions in Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital Holdings are notable examples of direct, publicly traded stock holdings that bypass the traditional private fund structure entirely.

The Division has indirectly expressed a constructive view on digital assets through its equity holdings in Bitcoin mining infrastructure companies, specifically Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital. These holdings represent a play on the infrastructure layer of Bitcoin rather than a direct token purchase, indicating a preference for regulated, publicly traded exposure within the energy and technology sectors.

All material investment decisions must be approved in public meetings, which creates a deliberate due-diligence cadence and limits the fund's ability to move as quickly as a private family office. This transparency, while occasionally slowing opportunistic moves, imposes a discipline that favors deep, long-duration relationships with a smaller number of managers over rapid-fire tactical allocation changes.

As state entities, the Division of Investment and the NJEDA operate under the same ultimate governance umbrella but with distinct mandates. The Division manages pension fund assets under a fiduciary duty to beneficiaries, while the NJEDA pursues state economic development goals. Though they are separate, the Division's investments occasionally intersect with in-state economic priorities, such as through real estate and infrastructure commitments.