Teachers Retirement System of Texas invests $600M in real estate

The pension fund is counting on domestic and international plays

Teachers Retirement System’ Board Chair Jarvis V. Hollingsworth
Teachers Retirement System’ Board Chair Jarvis V. Hollingsworth (LinkedIn, Getty)

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas is betting on real estate.

In fact, the bet is so large that two of the three of its significant investments were in real estate, while the other focuses on infrastructure.

According to the pension fund’s transaction report, its total investments are $600 million.

In early July, TRS sent $200 million to New York-based Abacus Multi-Family Partners VI. It also doled out $100 million to Greenwich, Connecticut-based Wheelock Street Real Estate Fund VII in late July.

Abacus is no stranger to Texas. Last year, the multifamily investor bought a $125.4 million South Florida apartment complex from an entity tied to Dallas-based real estate investment firm Lincoln Property Company.

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TRS’ investment in Abacus is a part of its “value-add” strategy, while the contribution to Wheelock Street was deemed “opportunistic.” Both funds were domestic plays.

Brookfield Infrastructure Fund V-A fund, an affiliate of Toronto’s Brookfield Asset Management, which has significant real estate holdings, received $350 million from TRS in mid-July.
The allocation in the fund was reported as another piece of TRS’ “value-add” strategy and is an
international play.

Brookfield also has significant interests in Texas. The company is currently teaming up with Dacra and Tesla to build a large-scale energy-neutral housing project in Austin.

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Karn Dhingra