Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (SRPS) has confirmed it is committing $100m (€85.6m) to Waterton’s apartment fund and reaffirmed its plan to invest at least $200m in non-core real estate annually.
The $52bn pension fund said in a meeting document that it recently approved $100m into Waterton Residential Property Venture XIII, a value-add US fund. IPE Real Assets reported in April that the fund had raised $920m at its final close, according to sources familiar with the matter.
IPE Real Assets also reported late last year that Maryland SRPS intends to invest $200m in non-core assets each year to help rebalance its $4.68bn real estate portfolio.
The Townsend Group, the pension fund’s real estate consultant, said in the latest meeting document that pricing in the real estate market favours non-core strategies.
The pension fund will also target sectors that benefit from secular changes, such as warehouse logistics and e-commerce. All the capital will be invested in funds.
For the $2.9bn core portfolio, the pension fund will maintain a risk-return profile that tracks the ODCE Index benchmark.
It also plans to review the strategy and mandates for its $702m public real estate securities portfolio.
