Trustees of the $24 billion Illinois State Universities Retirement System, Champaign, committed $75 million to GI Real Estate Essential Tech + Science Fund during its March 11 board meeting, a meeting report said.
The fund's manager, GI Partners, is a new investment firm for SURS. The fund's portfolio managers will seek investment in data centers, life science assets, and research and development facilities within the office and industrial sectors, said GI Partners' website.
Funding for the commitment is from SURS' $1.2 billion core real estate portfolio, spokeswoman Beth A. Spencer confirmed in an email.
In other news from the board meeting, Chairman John Atkinson expressed support for the people of Ukraine during the Russian invasion, the meeting report said.
"Given this hostile and unwarranted attack, SURS' trustees directed the SURS investment team to take all prudent action to explore options for divestment from all Russian holdings," he said.
Russian holdings in SURS' defined benefit plan total less than 0.1%.
Mr. Atkinson expressed support for Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposal to fully fund the state's pension funds' certified contributions in fiscal year 2023.
He applauded the $500 million the governor has proposed to alleviate the unfunded liabilities for the five state public defined benefit plans, including SURS.
"The governor's introduced budget honors the state's commitment to its pension systems and highlights the value of prepaying pension debt beyond what is required. We urge the General Assembly to make this additional payment, which will have a significant impact on the funds' unfunded liabilities and provide long-term savings to the state of Illinois," Mr. Atkinson added.
