Recent LP Commitments

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

At its May investment meeting, the Oregon State Treasury had recommended a $125 million investment in the Och-Ziff Real Estate (OZRE) Fund III, managed by Och-Ziff Capital Management, on behalf of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. The fund, which has a target of $1 billion, will pursue opportunistic investments primarily in the United States. The commitment brings OPERS that much closer to its real estate target allocation of 12.5% where, as at March 2014, the System had allocated 34.5% of its $68.33 billion investment portfolio to alternative investments with 11.33% dedicated to real estate investments.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

In May, the Board of Trustees of the $33.79 billion Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund had approved a commitment of up to $50 million towards the Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund X, managed by Starwood Capital Group. Previously, IMRF had committed $40 million towards Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX in October 2012. Fund X will follow a similar strategy to its prior vehicles, with both debt and equity investments across multiple commercial and residential property types, including apartments, hotel, retail, office and land. As at March 2014, the Retirement Fund had allocated 3.8% of its investment portfolio to real estate investments with an 8% target allocation to the asset class.

New Mexico State Investment Council

The New Mexico State Investment Council, which oversees $19.1 billion, had committed $75 million towards the Brookfield Real Estate Finance (BREF) Fund IV, managed by Brookfield Asset Management. Launched in March, Fund IV is targeting $850 million to invest in and originate whole loans, subordinate loans and mezzanine loans in prime locations within larger metropolitan areas. The target sector allocation for the fund is 40% to office properties, 40% to retail, multifamily and industrial assets, 10%to the hospitality sector and 10% to other properties. This latest commitment will bring NMSIC closer to its 10% target allocation towards real estate investment. Its allocation to the asset class stands at 6.48% as at March 2014.

San Francisco Employees' Retirement System

The $18 billion San Francisco Employees' Retirement System had made a commitment of up to $50 million to the Gaw Capital US Fund, managed by Gaw Capital Partners. The fund will target value-add opportunities in key gateway cities such as Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. This latest commitment marks the pension fund’s second investment with Gaw Capital Partners in the past year. In August 2013, SFERS had committed $52 million to the investment managers’ Gateway Real Estate Fund IV, which targeted opportunistic investments in the Greater China area.