New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) has approved a $300m (€246.9m) commitment into LaSalle Investment Management’s core open-end US real estate fund. The pension fund told IPE Real Assets that the investment to LaSalle Property Fund provides consistent real estate beta access with strong income returns, “as the fund has consistently beaten the ODCE benchmark since inception in 2010”. “The portfolio is an attractive collection of assets that are strategically diversified across property types and geographical locations.” The fund is diversified in some non-traditional property types like life sciences and medical office buildings and has no regional mall exposure. It has a current gross asset value of $6.3bn and no exit queue. Prior to NYSCRF’s commitment approval, the fund had a $142m entry queue. LaSalle declined a request for comment. The pension fund has also approved a $200m commitment to the Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VIII fund and a $150m commitment to the Kayne Anderson Real Estate Partners VI fund. “The Oaktree fund’s strategy includes opportunistic equity and credit/debt investments that we believe are appropriate for the current market conditions,” NYSCRF said. NYSCRF said after spending considerable time researching alternative real estate sectors (healthcare, student housing, and self-storage) and talking to various investment managers, it believes that Kayne Anderson gives the pension fund the opportunity to invest with a proven owner/operator of alternative real estate properties. To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.