Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS) is seeking to boost its exposure to net-lease real estate strategies.
The pension fund told IPE Real Assets that it had made a $300m (€264m) commitment to Oak Street Real Estate Capital Net Lease Property Fund, which itself will invest in a series of net-lease strategies.
It is one of the largest commitments ever made by a US public pension fund to a net-lease real estate strategy, according to industry sources.
IPE Real Assets reported last year on growing interest in net-lease strategies among US pension funds.
Net leases provide investors with low-risk income investments, transferring the responsibility of taxes, maintenance and other costs to tenants. Properties are leased to single tenants, commonly in the office, industrial or retail sectors.
Oak Street has a history of buying assets in the range of $10m to $50m with a mixture of debt and equity.
Pennsylvania SERS first invested with Oak Street in 2017, when it issued a $100m commitment to Oak Street Real Estate Capital Fund IV.
The new commitment is part of its plan to invest $600m in real estate during the current fiscal year and to bring its allocation to the asset class up to 12%.
The pension fund approved another commitment for real estate, contributing an additional $160m to its REIT separate account managed by CenterSquare Investment Management.
Oak Street Real Estate Capital declined to comment when contacted for this story.
