At its June 19 board meeting, the Washington State Investment Board voted to commit $950 million, divided among four separate managers, to real estate, energy and tangible assets.
The commitment to real estate is a follow-on commitment of $500 million to Aevitas Property Partners. WSIB originally committed $250 million to the firm in April 2012 to invest in REOCs globally, but primarily in non-U.S. markets. Board documents from 2012 note that WSIB senior investment officer Steve Draper believed the commitment would mitigate concentration risk among the WSIB’s REOC intermediaries by adding the firm’s “niche-focused investing, ability and willingness to tackle distressed situations, and focus on different markets.” The documents also noted that WSIB liked Aevitas’ strong experience in Southern Europe, India and Turkey, areas that were underrepresented in WSIB&
