MassPRIM to vote on RFP for real estate consultant

At a March 19 meeting , the real estate and timberland committee of the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board voted unanimously to recommend that the PRIM Board approve the issuance of an RFP for general and project real estate consulting.

The board will vote on the approval at its next meeting on April 1.

MassPRIM issues an RFP for consulting services every three years and is open to hiring more than one consultant. The incumbent consultant, The Townsend Group, will be eligible to reapply and be rehired for its current role.

The Pension Reserves Investment Trust fund that MassPRIM manages is valued at $58.2 billion as of Feb. 28, 2014. Its real estate portfolio is valued at $5.04 billion, comprising 8.7 percent of the total fund. MassPRIM’s target allocation to real estate is 10 percent, and the board voted to set aside up to $550 million for real estate investment in 2014.

In 2013, the real estate portfolio had returns of 10.8 percent. The board’s five- to seven-year return assumption for unlevered U.S. core property is 6.25 percent, though MassPRIM believes it can add additional return through manager selection and capital-structuring decisions.