The Maine Public Employees Retirement System has made $185 million in commitments to several funds that will invest in real estate and infrastructure in Europe and the U.S.
Details from IPE Real Estate:
A $50m commitment was made to Westbrook Partners’ Real Estate Fund X, an opportunistic fund with an anticipated $2.5bn capital raise.
The fund is targeting major markets in Europe and the US, including London, Paris, Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt.
In the US, the fund is targeting New York, Boston, Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Fund X, which is aiming for 15% gross and 12% net IRRs, is using a “conservative” amount of leverage.
Since 2009, Westbrook has an average of 25% loan-to-value on all of its investments.
The fund will invest in the office, retail, industrial and apartment sectors, targeting assets with distressed capital structures and in need of repositioning.
Maine PERS also approved a $75m commitment to the IFM Global Infrastructure Fund.
The fund has an ex-Australian investment mandate to avoid IFM Investors competing on deals it pursues for a fund it runs that only invests in Australian infrastructure.
The fund will invest in the UK and Poland as part of a focus on Europe and the US.
IFM, which will buy assets that produce a 10% net investment return, will be looking at utilities, transportation systems and telecommunication operations.
Main PERS also approved a commitment of $60m to KKR’s Special Situations Fund II.
The fund will invest in a various levels of the capital stack, including distressed debt in the US, Europe and Asia.
Maine PERS manages approximately $12 billion in assets.
Photo credit: “Flag-map of Maine” by Darwinek – self-made using Image:Flag of Maine.svg and Image:Map of Maine highlighting Penobscot County.svg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
