New US Property Fund Index from PREA and IPD

The Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and Investment Property Databank (IPD) announced this month that they would co-sponsor a US Property Fund Index to measure real estate investment performance for open-end, commingled funds. According to an IPE article, the new benchmark will track the performance of open-ended US real estate funds against the underlying direct property market, highlighting any value added by active management. The PREA/IPD US Property Fund Index will become a component of the IPD Global Property Fund Index, enabling IPD clients and PREA members to evaluate their performance in a global context. The tentative target date for having the PREA/IPD US Property Fund Index up and running is mid-August, 2012.

Ted Eliopoulos, Senior Investment Officer for the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and Chairman of the PREA Board of Directors said that "PREA is looking forward to our co-sponsorship with IPD on the PREA/IPD US Property Fund Index. Not only will the US Property Fund Index increase transparency for the asset class in general, but our new relationship will provide significant benefits for PREA members."

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CalPERS Transfers $1.9B Portfolio

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) has transfered its CalEast Global Logistics industrial real estate portfolio, valued at $1.9 billion, to GI Partners and RREEF according to a CoStar report. "We have confidence in GI Partners and expect excellent performance from the CalEast portfolio going forward, given their strong returns since they joined our real estate program in 2001," said Ted Eliopoulos, CalPERS Senior Investment Officer, Real Estate. "RREEF's success with CalWest and their global breadth and expertise will be valuable in managing CalEast's European assets."

CalPERS made the transition as part of a strategy to restructure its real estate and shift assets to managers. CalEast was previously managed by LaSalle Investment Management while RREEF has managed CalWest Industrial Properties for CalPERS since 1998.

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