New York Common commits $350m to Westbrook Partners

The New York State Common Retirement Fund has committed $350m (€316m) to Westbrook Partners.

The US pension fund has allocated $200m to Westbrook’s value-add Real Estate Fund X, as well as $150m for co-investments with the manager.

New York Common follows the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System into fund X.

Westbrook will use the co-investment capital for transactions deemed to be too large for the fund.

Capital could be used for single or multiple transactions, with Westbrook having investment authority.

The pension fund believes Westbrook is a strong performer in previous investment funds and can make changes to its investment strategy when needed.

On a combined basis, its $635m in investments in Westbrook funds I to VIII are projected to generate a net IRR of 16.1%.

As of September 2014, the funds had returned $835m, with an additional $133m of projected net asset value remaining.

Westbrook changed its investment strategy from opportunistic to value-add during the global financial crisis.

The pension fund, in an email, said the manager chose to reduce risk to the investor going forward.

Fund X provides New York Common with international exposure, including investments in London, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo.

Approximately half of the fund’s investments will be in the US, with targeted markets including New York, Boston, Washington, DC, Miami/South Florida, the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles/Southern California.

The fund will invest in all major property types.