NORTH AMERICA – The New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) has approved $165m (€128m) worth of new real estate commitments.

One of these was a $65m allocation to the Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund II, a commingled opportunity fund that will focus on Europe, including direct assets in all of the main property types, corporate interests and real estate credit or debt.

NYSTRS previously made a €50m commitment into Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund I in 2007.

The pension fund also made a $75m investment into the Gateway Real Estate Fund IV opportunity fund, managed by Gaw Capital

This fund will invest in a variety of property types in Hong Kong, China, Macau and Taiwan.

NYSTRS earmarked $25m for the Abacus Multi-Family Partners II, which only invests in apartments in a value-added strategy through developments, turnarounds, rehabs and pre-sales in the US.

In other news, two institutional investors have placed a total of $95m into the GEM Realty Fund V commingled fund, with the University of Texas Investment Management Company investing $75m and the Montana Board of Investments $20m. 

Both investors consider Realty Fund V, which focuses on US assets, to be an opportunistic investment. 

GEM Realty Capital is seeking a total equity raise between $750m and $800m.

The investment strategy will include value-add and development opportunities, while property types will include apartments and office buildings.