Illinois State Universities looks for noncore manager

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois has issued an RFP for one or more noncore real estate fund managers to manage approximately $100 million of the retirement system’s assets. The search is tentatively set to conclude in March 2015.

The retirement system, which manages approximately $18.8 billion divided between its defined benefit plan ($17.3 billion) and its self-managed plan ($1.5 billion) as of June 30, approved a new 10 percent target allocation to real estate in June 2014, divided between a 4 percent allocation to REITs and a 6 percent allocation to private real estate. As of June 30, 2014, the actual allocation to REITs was close to its target at 3.9 percent of the total portfolio while the private real estate portfolio was a little short at 3.6 percent of the total portfolio. Currently, noncore real estate makes up the smallest proportion of the real es