LACERA CEO Lou Lazatin (Credit: Wikipedia)
The Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association is putting $250 million towards international real estate funds this year.
The association, which represents 165,000 current and former county employees, will put $120 million into Asia, $100 million into Europe, and $30 million into Latin America, according to IPE Real Assets. Cleveland-based consultant The Townsend Group will advise on the investments.
LACERA will focus on opportunistic funds that can create returns of more than 100 basis points, or one percent, higher than returns it can get investing stateside.
Nearly all of LACERA’s $6.2 billion in real estate assets are in the United States. In 2016 LACERA announced a plan to increase its allocation in international properties to 15 percent over three to five years.
Last March, LACERA put $50 million towards a Europe real estate fund managed by Angelo Gordon & Company. Earlier this month it put another $100 million into an Angelo Gordon fund for Asian real estate.
Real estate accounts for about 11 percent of LACERA’s $56 billion in assets. Around a third of its real estate is multifamily, 22 percent is office, followed by smaller retail and industrial portfolios. [IPE Real Assets] – Dennis Lynch
Source: The Real Deal Los Angeles