Maryland Pension Fires REIT Manager, Will Transfer $311 Million Portfolio To New Firm

The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System is shaking up its domestic REIT portfolio as the fund has fired LaSalle Investment Management and will shift its $311 million domestic REIT portfolio to State Street Global Advisors.

From IPE Real Estate:

Maryland State declined to comment or provide a reason for the decision, while LaSalle failed to respond.

The $311m (€244m) domestic REIT portfolio will be transferred to State Street Global Advisors (SSgA), with a global investment strategy for REITs, benchmarked against the FTSE/EPRA NAREIT Developed Index.

Maryland State said it had a long relationship with SSgA across passive equities, core fixed income and EMD.

The pension fund also uses Morgan Stanley as a global REIT manager for a $387.6m foreign portfolio, also benchmarked against the FTSE/EPRA NAREIT Developed Index.

Maryland State has approved a $50m commitment to CBRE Strategic Partners US Value Fund VII.

CBRE Global Investors is raising $1.5bn for the US-focused fund, in which it will co-invest a maximum $30m.

The fund, which will invest in the office, industrial, hotel, retail and apartment sectors, has a targeted 15% gross IRR and a 12.8% net.

The pension fund has made nearly $280m in commitments to CBRE Investors since 2007.

The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System manages nearly $45 billion in assets and allocated 6.9 percent to real estate.