Pennsylvania SERS commits $25m to real estate fund
The $29 billion Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System has committed $25 million to Mesirow Financial Real Estate Value Fund III, according to a statement by the pension fund.
The commitment was made within its real estate asset class to focus on multifamily residential real estate properties in the United States.
Mesirow Financial Real Estate Value Fund III is managed by Mesirow Financial, an independent financial services firm based in Chicago. It is a value-added real estate fund that will invest in multifamily assets throughout the United States.
The fund recently received a $10 million commitment from the $1.2 billion Chicago Laborers’ Annuity & Benefit Fund.
The fund’s predecessor, Mesirow Financial Real Estate Value Fund II, held a $542.45 million final close in June 2015, exceeding its $500 million fundraising goal.
Pennsylvania SERS also hired Terrill Sanchez as its next executive director. Sanchez has more than 26 years of public pension experience with Pennsylvania’s Public
School Employees’ Retirement System, where she currently serves as deputy executive director. She will fill the vacancy left after prior executive director David Durbin retired in January.
As of March 2017, Pennsylvania SERS’ real estate asset class had a 2 percent return for the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2017, according to the statement. The total fund earned a 15.1 percent net-of-fees return on investments in 2017 that added $3.9 billion to the fund and produced employer contribution savings of approximately $530 million over the next five years.
