Illinois SURS Invests in Real Estate Strategy

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois added a real estate fund and terminated a Tail Risk Hedge and Volatility Management search from 2022, at trustees’ October meeting.

The retirement system intends to allocate the lesser of $50 million or 10% of total fund commitments to Belay Ventures Fund IV, a real estate fund overseen by Belay Investment Group. The commitment was aligned with the system’s growth-oriented traditional asset class, as stated in the pension fund’s announcement. This asset class is distinct from the non-traditional growth asset class, which encompasses the real assets program amounting to above $1 billion.

Belay makes small- to middle-market transactions that are less competitive and often off-market. The firm is focused on select markets throughout the U.S. that are supply constrained with durable demand drivers and in specific property types that benefit from local market trends.

The $25 billion fund has exceeded its projected rate of return, achieving gains of 8.3% during fiscal 2024. The transition into real estate occurs subsequent to an allocation in September to the Pantheon Global Infrastructure Core Plus Fund V, a private infrastructure fund administered by Pantheon Ventures, inside its real assets program.