GLOBAL - The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a separate account real estate manager at its December 2010 board meeting. 

The pension fund also approved a commitment of as much as $100m (€77.4m) into the Blackstone Real Estate Situation Fund II.

The RFP is for the management of an existing separate account the pension fund has with AEW Capital Management.

Pension fund officials said the outcome of the search would be to either to keep AEW on the fund or bring in a new manager.

Should a new manager be brought in, this would only be to manage existing assets. No additional capital will be awarded for the search.

The RFP is being conducted on a competitive basis using an expedited process. The search process considers both managers provided by the pension fund's real estate consultant, The Townsend Group, as well as managers referred by the office of the Connecticut Treasurer for further vetting by Townsend.

The pension fund is conducting further due diligence in preparation for a final recommendation for the Treasurer's consideration.

Separately, Connecticut said it was now negotiating contract terms on its investment into Real Estate Situation Fund II.

The Blackstone Group, which manages the commingled fund, is shooting for a $2bn capital raise. The investment strategy includes placing capital into distressed real estate and debt.

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