GLORIA GIL

Being compared to a sovereign wealth fund has to be one of the highest honors achievable in the world of limited partners. For Gloria Gil, she has achieved that accolade in the two years since joining the University of California's Treasurer's Office. Previously at the $42 billion (€26.4 billion) Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association pension fund, Gil moved into academia in 2006 to help build the university's real estate portfolio as it moved away from core real estate and into enhanced and high return strategies. The impact of her appointment though has had far-reaching effects according to one placement agent, who says of the director: “Her mandate has increased considerably.” In September 2006, the $48 billion university fund approved plans to significantly boost enhanced and high-return real estate investments to 65 percent of its real estate allocation. It has left Gil with a lot of dry powder, one real estate professional says, adding: “She's more like a sovereign wealth fund, if you will.” As director of real estate, it is down to Gil to conduct due diligence as well as hire and constantly review external investment managers, on all real estate assets including infrastructure, timber, agriculture, oil and gas. She also works with real estate consultants advising the university's oversight board, the Regents', on their $1.3 billion program. Added to the fact Gil is also on the US PREA (Pension Real Estate Association) board and a Counselor of Real Estate, Gil is proving herself as being a rightful entry into PERE's most influential LPs.