UNITED STATES - Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System is carrying out an international REIT manager search.
The amount to be allocated to the strategy is 1% of total plan assets, or around around $60m (€38.3m).
The pension fund's chief investment officer, Jeff States, said, "We think that an international REIT strategy is a good way to get exposure to international real estate. The capital can be invested quickly and you can get a daily update on the value of your portfolio."
Another positive factor is that the pension fund would achieve an additional level of diversification by investing in economies other than the US.
Sacramento County will be working on the search with its consultant, Mercer Investment Consulting.
The plan will not issue an RFP for the search. Based on its own data Mercer will compile a list of potential candidates for the pension fund to discuss at its board meeting in August. A shortlist of finalists will be called for interviews at the September board meeting where a final decision will be made.
Sacramento County believes that the international REIT strategy will not include the US. It could include both Asia and Europe.
The REITs that will be invested in will own traditional real estate like office, industrial, retail and apartments.
The REIT manager search is the only real estate investment activity that Sacramento County has in place at this time.
