The New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) has increased its exposure to real estate in Asia with a $300m (€270m) investment in the BentallGreenOak Asia IV fund.
The pension fund told IPE Real Assets that its “real estate portfolio is under-allocated to Asia, having invested an amount well below the midpoint of its target allocation to the region”. It added: “This part of the world looks good, as it has GDP growth that exceeds that for both North America and Europe.”
The BentallGreenOak fund will buy office, logistics, residential and hotels in the region and undertake light repositioning and proactive management to enhance their value.
NYSCRF has also invested $150m in a co-investment sidecar that invests alongside the KKR Real Estate Partners Americas IV.
This investment will allow the investor to access KKR’s research and strategy group and acquisitions staff that invests using a thematic approach.
The pension fund expects the fund to invest principally in industrial, residential, student housing in growing public universities, and self-storage sectors.
Another new large real estate investment for NYSCRF was a $200m commitment to the Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund IX.
The pension fund also acquired two properties through separate account managers, including the $128.1m acquisition of the Cubes at Glendale-Building B in Glendale, Arizona.
The single-tenant bulk warehouse is leased to Amazon until October 2024 and has been acquired by a separate account managed by BlackRock.
The other property acquired was the 197-unit Manor in Plantation apartment asset near Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a separate account managed by Clarion Partners.
