CalPERS commits $4bn to Chinese real estate, US offices and logistics

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has approved more than $4bn (€3.6bn) in new commitments to real estate.

It made a $1bn allocation to the US office-focused Fifth Street Properties partnership, managed by CommonWealth Partners, according to a board-meeting document.

The partnership only invests in US office buildings and mainly in core assets.

CommonWealth Partners’ current portfolio is in New York City, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego and Washington DC.

Fifth Street Partners’ portfolio was valued at $1.6bn in March.

CalPERS also allocated $500m to ARA Management’s China Investment Partners, a rarity as the pension fund is looking to invest up to 75% of its real estate portfolio in core US assets.

It made a new $400m commitment to Bentall Kennedy’s Institutional Logistics Partners (ILP), doubling the current value of the existing portfolio.

Steve Lekki, senior vice-president and portfolio manager for Bentall Kennedy, said: “Over the past three years, we have been successful executing on our base core strategy for ILP to acquire best-in-class, high-quality assets in a number of our target markets.”

These have included deals in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern New Jersey.