The $41 billion Employees Retirement System of Texas (Texas ERS) is stepping up its push into private real estate, committing fresh capital to new managers and strategies while continuing to build out its private equity and infrastructure exposure. 

In its latest round of commitments, Texas ERS allocated $100 million to CBRE Asia Partner 7, a CBRE Global Investors fund that targets the supply-demand imbalance in logistics and data center assets across key Asia Pacific hubs. The pension also committed $35 million to Northpond Fund V, focused on retail-oriented U.S. properties, and $50 million to SIH Debt Opportunities Fund III, a Sabal Investment Advisors strategy that invests in senior secured loans and debt backed by workforce and affordable multifamily assets in the small- and mid-balance CRE market. 

Additionally, the system added another $100 million to its position in the Wheelock Long Term Value Fund, doubling down on its original 2020 allocation. The open-end, diversified fund invests in core and core-plus commercial and residential real estate across the U.S., aligning with Texas ERS’s push to maintain long-term exposure to steady-income real estate. 

Beyond real estate, the system made smaller moves in its private equity and infrastructure books, including a $15 million infrastructure co-investment and a $25 million private equity co-investment with undisclosed managers, plus a $7.8 million top-up to Southern Cross V – Extension, which targets Latin American companies with strong market moats. 

For the fiscal year to date, Texas ERS’s private real estate portfolio has returned 1.7%, with several strategies now overweight relative to the fund’s targets. Private equity continues to dominate the system’s private markets allocation, making up over 17% of total assets.