CalSTRS backs Partners RE for up to $200m

This is the Californian pension fund's first real estate secondaries commitment and first investment with the Swiss firm.

Partners Group was among the beneficiaries of a big year for alternatives investment by California’s second-largest public pension fund.

California State Teachers’ Retirement System committed $7.1 billion to private equity funds, real estate funds and co-investments in the six months to 31 December, according to recently published quarterly investment reports.

This included a $100 million discretionary – and a $100 million non-discretionary – commitment to Partners Group Real Estate Secondary 2017, a real estate secondaries fund for which the Zug-headquartered firm is seeking €2 billion.

The fund hit a €1.2 billion close in August, sister title PERE reported, after around 10 months in the market. Other investors include El Paso Firemen & Policemen’s Pension Fund and London Borough of Camden Pension Fund, according to PERE data.

This is CalSTRS’ first investment in real estate secondaries and its first commitment to Partners Group, according to a list of its private holdings. The pension made no other secondaries investments in the second half of 2017. It has invested in Coller Capital and Ardian’s most recent funds, among others.

In the 12 months to 30 September, CalSTRS committed $5.7 billion to private equity alone, up from $4 billion for full-year 2016, according to its latest private equity quarterly report. At this rate, the final figure for 2017 could exceed the last peak of $6.4 billion committed in 2008.

CalSTRS has $17.2 billion in private equity assets and $26.6 billion in real estate, according its quarterly report.