New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS) has appointed Cabot Properties and Penwood Real Estate Investment Management as separate account managers for industrial assets in the US.

NYSTRS told IPE Real Assets that it had not allocated a specific amount of capital to the either account, but it is looking to increase its exposure to industrial real estate.

At the end of last year, the pension fund had built up a $332m (€275m) exposure to industrial assets, representing 11% of its real estate portfolio. According to NYSTRS’ strategic plan, its target is 15%.

The pension fund’s industrial portfolio had an overall occupancy of 97%, outperforming the CBRE Econometric Advisors national average of 93%.

NYSTRS is looking to invest in existing assets and development opportunities, focused on intermodal, port and last-mile locations.

Cabot and Penwood have been hired a non-discretionary basis, meaning they will need to get approval from the pension fund on individual deals.

Cabot has managed separate accounts for NYSTRS in the past, but Penwood has only managed its capital through commingled funds.

Cabot did not respond to calls for comment and Penwood declined to comment.