Staff: Robert M. Burd
![[photo, 120 East Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland]](/msa/mdmanual/25ind/images/1198-1-670b.jpg)
c/o State Retirement & Pension System
120 East Baltimore St., Baltimore, Maryland, February 2004. Photo by Diane F. Evartt.
The Maryland Venture Capital Trust was formed in 1990 (Chapter 222, Acts of 1990). The Trust provided an opportunity for Maryland State and local public pension funds and the State of Maryland and its political subdivisions to invest a portion of their funds in venture capital limited partnerships. The Trust sold $19.1 million of beneficial interests, consisting of $15 million from the State Retirement and Pension System; $2.1 million from the Fire and Police Employees' Retirement System of the City of Baltimore, and the Employees' Retirement System of the City of Baltimore; and $2 million from the State of Maryland.
As a limited partner, the Trust invested in newly formed and existing venture capital funds which, as part of their overall investment strategy, ensured that a majority of Trust funds were invested in Maryland business enterprises in the initial stages of development. By July 1992, the Trust, in its role as a "fund-of-funds," committed its entire $19.1 million in eight venture-capital partnerships: Catalyst Ventures ($3 million); Oxford Bioscience Partners ($3 million); Edison Venture Fund III ($3 million); GroTech Partners IV ($3 million); Calvert Social Venture Partners ($2 million); TDH III ($2 million); Kitty Hawk Capital L.P., III ($1.6 million); and Tri-Tech Partners ($1.5 million).
The Trust is no longer making new investments, and is in the final states of the liquidation phase.
The Board of Trustees of the Trust has seven members. They are named to four-year terms by the Governor with Senate advice and consent. The Governor names the chair (Code Economic Development Article, secs. 10-701 through 10-713).
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