UNITED STATES - Alameda County Employees Retirement Association has decided it wants to pull out of its commitment to JP Morgan's Alternative Property Fund.

The pension fund has filed a redemption request for this fund following discussions with its real estate consultant, The Townsend Group, at its board meeting on 16 October.

It is the first step by Alameda to reduce its real estate portfolio as officials decided in May they would lower the fund's targeted real estate allocation from 9% to 6%.

It is understood the Alternative Property Fund is the lowest performer of all the real estate commingled funds the pension fund has invested in, and Alameda has the option of withdrawing its assets because the commingled fund has an open-ended structure allowing for some liquidity.

The expectation is there will be a redemption queue for the Alternative Property Fund though it is anticipated the wait should not be long.

Alameda County earlier made a $20m (€15m) commitment as the commingled fund invests in a mixture of specialist property types including senior housing, hotels and medical office buildings.

JP Morgan Asset Management's aim was to create joint ventures with real estate companies focused on a single property type.

Other investors in the Alternative Property Fund have included Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund, Rhode Island Employees Retirement System and Seattle City Employees Retirement System.

Alameda County has yet to target any further real estate commitment withdrawals at this time but will continue to monitor its real estate portfolio along with Townsend.

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