Illinois Retirement Invests $340M in Venture Capital, Real Estate 

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF), which oversees $55 billion in assets, added $340 million in investments to its alternatives portfolio, zeroing in on venture capital and real estate. 

The retirement fund is deepening its ties with Lightspeed Venture Partners, with up to $100 million across four funds: Lightspeed Venture Partners XV-A (Inception), Lightspeed Venture Partners XV-B (Ignite), Lightspeed Venture Partners Select VI, and Lightspeed Opportunity Fund III. IMRF is an existing investor in Lightspeed funds, with $661 million invested in their strategies. 

Strategic Value Special Situations Fund VI is set to receive up to $100 million. IMRF is an existing investor in Strategic Value Partners’ funds, with a total of $75 million in aggregate commitments. Strategic Value Partners qualifies as a minority-owned firm under the Illinois Pension Code. 

IMRF will invest up to $40 million across two Base10 Partners funds: Base10 Seed & Series A IV and Base10 Series B II. IMRF is already an investor in Base10 funds, with $10 million in previous aggregate commitments. Additionally, IMRF considers Base10 to be a minority-owned firm. 

IMRF will invest $100 million across three U.S. multifamily housing strategies. Up to $50 million is earmarked for Pretium Affordable Single-Family Rental Fund VII, which follows Pretium wrapping up its sixth single-family fund. The firm closed its first homebuilder finance fund with $550 million in equity last month. 

A $25 million allocation was made to Mesirow Financial Real Estate Value Fund V. Mesirow is aiming for $1 billion total with this fund, zeroing in on value-added multifamily opportunities across the U.S. 

Rounding out its real estate commitments, another $25 million was allocated to S2 Real Estate Fund II. S2 Capital focuses on value-add multifamily properties and is a minority-owned firm under the Illinois Pension Code, aligning with IMRF’s picks like Base10 and Strategic Value.