New Mexico increases target allocation to real estate, real assets

The Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico has increased its target allocation to alternative investments from 6 percent to 10 percent, resulting in an increase to the target allocations of both real estate and real assets from 3 percent of the total portfolio to 5 percent each.

The increase should result in the $14.2 billion pension fund investing approximately $568 million more into alternative investments — $284 million each to real estate and real assets — and it could happen sooner rather than later.

“We are on track to reach our allocation targets within the next year,” says Christine Keyes, the real assets portfolio manager with PERA.

The pension fund’s most recent addition to its real assets portfolio was a commitment to EnCap Flatrock Midstream Fund III of up to $45 million in March 2014. EFM III launched in January 2014 and will target the mi