Cook County Annuity & Benefit Fund, Chicago, issued an RFP for at least one real estate emerging manager to run up to $100 million in non-core real estate or REITs, according to spokeswoman Rachel Farris.
The $8.7 billion pension fund will consider real estate emerging managers or real estate emerging manager funds of funds.
Funding will come from a Russell Investments' transitional REIT account. No managers were terminated; the assets were moved from U.S. equities in a rebalancing in 2011 that raised the pension fund's real estate allocation to a target of 8% of total assets, from 5%.
The proposal is available on the pension fund's website. Proposals are due at 3 p.m. CST March 7. Though a selection date has not been set, a selection is expected by the early part of the third quarter, Ms. Farris said.
Callan Associates is assisting.
Within the pension fund's real estate target, a minimum 70% is assigned to core strategies and a maximum 20% each is assigned to non-core strategies and public REITs.
