By Muskan Arora
The $71.4bn Illinois Teachers’ Retirement
System is looking for a real estate and real assets investment consultant.
The current consultant, StepStone’s
contract will expire at the end of the year, which ignited the search.
As per the news release on July 17, the existing
consultant is invited to rebid.
The new consultant, with the staff, will be
involved in strategic and annual tactical planning, asset allocation, manager
search and selection, performance measurement and reporting, and research and
analysis of the portfolio.
“Responding firms must demonstrate
experience and expertise in all matters relative to the real estate and real
asset portfolios,” stated the RFP.
“All
responding firms must meet the highest standards of professional competence and
ethics,” stated the RFP.
The RFP requires a cover letter, reference
checks, statement of minimum qualifications, answering the questionnaire and fee
proposal among other factors.
Illinois Teachers plan to select the
semi-finalists by October and select a new consultant by December.
The system allocates 15.6% to its real
estate sleeve and 2.9% to its real assets sleeve against a target of 16% and 2%,
as of December 31.
The real estate portfolio has a long-term
target of 40%-70% core, 10%-30% value-add, and 20%-40% opportunistic.
Within the RE sleeve, the system has the
maximum exposure to industrial, residential and office sectors.
TRS’s real assets portfolio has a long-term
target of 2% and has maximum exposure in infrastructure, special situations and
agriculture. The system might start making commitments to Timber.
