San Diego commits $25 million to Torchlight Debt Fund VIII

The $1.23 billion San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System (SDCERS) has committed $25 million to Torchlight Debt Fund VIII.

Managed by New York–based Torchlight Investors, with a fundraising target of $2 billion, Torchlight Debt Fund VIII will invest in a diversified portfolio of public and private commercial real estate debt investments in the United States. The fund seeks to allocate 60 percent of its investments in private originations and acquisitions and 40 percent of its investments in public securities.

SDCERS is a previous investor in Torchlight Investors’ Debt Fund series, having committed a total of $90 million in Fund IV, V and VI, according to data from IREI.Q, Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s proprietary market intelligence research tool.

The predecessor fund, Torchlight Debt Fund VII, closed in October 2021 with $2.04 billion in capital commitments, after initially targeting $1.5 billion.

Fund VIII held a first close on December 1, 2022, and had raised $858 million in commitments at that date.

SDCERS is currently underweight in noncore real estate holdings. While the fund has a 70/30 target for core/noncore real estate exposure, prior to this commitment to Torchlight Debt Fund VIII, the pension fund’s portfolio weighting sat at 81 percent core/19 percent noncore real estate. The fund predicts that the $25 million commitment to Torchlight Debt Fund VIII will increase its noncore real estate exposure to 21 percent.

For more information about this commitment or other funds, please visit our IREI.Q database.