The California Public Employees Retirement System giveth, and it taketh away. The nation’s biggest public pension fund has made commitments to a few private equity and hedge funds, while redeeming from a few others.

CalPERS has committed US$234 million to Candover 2008 Fund, which will make control investments primarily in European mid- to large-cap companies, according to an internal memo. Including this commitment, CalPERS has a total of $643.5 million committed to London-based Candover Partners, representing 1.1% of its alternative investment management portfolio.

CalPERS is also committing $500 million to Blackstone Capital Partners VI, which will invest opportunistically with a value-oriented, global approach. The fund is targeting between $15 billion and $20 billion in commitments. Including this commitment, CalPERS has a total of $2.025 billion committed to the firm, representing 3.3% of the AIM portfolio.

Also, CalPERS is committing $25 million to European Research and Alternatives Asset Management’s European Fund of Funds, and $15 million to the Sparx Asian Fund of Funds.

On the redemption front, the pension plan has gotten back $41 million from its investment in Carlyle Blue Wave, the Carlyle Group hedge fund that closed its doors over the summer. It has also made a partial redemption of $10 million in Wayzata, which runs $5 billion in private equity and hedge fund strategies.