New York State Common Retirement Fund is investing in $300m (€279m) in Blackstone’s latest global real estate debt fund. 

It is the first time that the pension fund has invested in Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS) series of funds, which aim to take advantage of dislocation in traditional lending markets.

Blackstone did not comment.

Last year, IPE Real Estate reported that Blackstone had raised $4.5bn for the fund, the third in the series.

New York Common has invested in real estate equity funds managed by Blackstone, including global opportunistic funds and its core-plus vehicle, Blackstone Property Partners.

According to the pension fund, Blackstone is co-investing $50m in the third BREDS fund, as well as 10% on each investment.

Most transactions will be larger deals and portfolio transactions as part of a strategy to differentiate the fund from others in the market.

The fund is targeting high-single-digit and low-double-digit returns, in line with previous BREDS funds.