The $58.3 billion Virginia Retirement System (VRS) has recently approved a $50 million commitment to IFM Australian Infrastructure Wholesale Fund, managed by Industry Funds Management (IFM). Field Griffith, the director of real assets at VRS, has confirmed the transaction.
The open-end fund invests in economic and social infrastructure assets in global developed markets. IFM, a global investment manager with offices in Australia, North America and Europe, currently manages more than A$46 billion ($43 billion) in funds across five separate asset classes. The firm manages portfolios across listed equities, private equity, infrastructure, debt and private assets.
VRS is relatively new to the infrastructure asset class, making its first commitment in August 2012. Earlier this year, VRS committed $100 million to Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, and $100 million to Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.
The plan sponsor has an 8 percent target allocation to real assets, which includes private real estate, REITs, timberland and infrastructure. As of June 30, 2013, VRS had about $5.4 billion in its real assets portfolio, an actual allocation of roughly 9.3 percent.