Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Commits $249M to Real Assets, PE

The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) approved $249 million in new commitments across real assets, private equity and venture capital strategies during its February board meeting as the $61 billion pension continues expanding its alternatives portfolio. 

In real assets, trustees allocated $75 million to Crow Holdings Realty Partners XI, a value-add real estate strategy targeting industrial and multifamily properties across the United States along with specialty sectors including manufactured housing, convenience retail, self-storage and student housing. Crow Holdings already manages approximately $205.7 million on behalf of IMRF. 

A second real estate commitment of $35 million was approved for Longpoint Partners Fund IV, a minority-owned manager that raised $494 million earlier this year. 

The pension also approved three allocations to private markets strategies managed by existing relationships. These included $59 million to Inflexion Buyout Fund VII, which targets European companies with enterprise values of up to €1 billion; $50 million to Symphony Technology Group’s STG Allegro II, a lower middle-market strategy investing in software, data and analytics companies; and $30 million to venture capital firm Lightbank through Lightbank Access I. 

Separately, IMRF is conducting a request for proposals with consultant Callan for open-ended diversified core and core-plus infrastructure equity funds, with up to $200 million expected to be allocated.