By Muskan Arora
The $27bn Kansas Public Employees’ Retirement System committed $85m to Ventas Life Sciences and Healthcare Real Estate Fund, as a part of its non-core
RE portfolio.
The pension fund allocates 10.1% to its real estate sleeve
against a target of 14%, as of March 31.
“The fund would join the System’s existing roster of
“non-core” real estate funds and the Fund would be part of the System’s
“core-plus” segment within the non-core real estate portfolio,” as presented by
Dean Roney, deputy CIO for private markets, at the July meeting.
The fund invests with a focus on non-traditional property types
including life science, medical office and senior housing, with sector
allocations driven by “long-term secular trends” in targeted U.S. geographic
markets.
This additional allocation to the non-core RE sleeve will
allow the portfolio to migrate towards the target allocation mix of 75% core
and 25% non-core.
During the meeting, the firm’s 25-year track record of investing
in RE within targeted sectors and an experienced investment team were named as
a few key factors in selecting the firm.
Consultant Townsend, along with staff, recommended a pacing
of $250m for the system’s core real estate investments and $250-$350m for its
non-core RE portfolio.
The system’s portfolio returned 3.8% against a policy benchmark
of 4.2% in the first quarter of the year, and 10.8% against a benchmark of 12.6%
as its 1-year return.
