Home ListingMay 20, 2015

CalPERS, QIC Forge A$1B Infra Partnership

The deal marks the first major real asset investment since CalPERS hired its new sector chief Paul Mouchakkaa to replace now-CIO Ted Eliopoulos.

Reported by Featured Author

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has sealed a deal with Australian manager QIC on an A$1 billion (US$764 million) mandate.

The investment marks CalPERS’ first venture into Asia-Pacific infrastructure, and will take the pension’s total real assets allocation above US$30 billion—roughly 10% of total assets.

QIC—which was set up by the government of Queensland, Australia to manage its pension assets in 1991—will source and manage investments. CalPERS will take stakes in any assets bought by QIC that fit its objectives.

The mandate will target “core” assets in transport, energy, utilities, and public-private partnerships, said Ross Israel, head of global infrastructure at QIC. He added that the arrangement had been in discussion “over a number of years.”

“This is a great opportunity to expand our infrastructure portfolio and to enter the Asia-Pacific market,” said CalPERS’ Paul Mouchakkaa, senior investment officer for real assets. “QIC has a proven track record of success and is an excellent fit for our program.”

The deal is CalPERS’ first significant real assets investment since it hired Mouchakkaa from Morgan Stanley to lead the team in February. He succeeded Ted Eliopoulos, now CalPERS’ CIO.

Separately, a consortium of four Danish pension funds have bought a property portfolio valued at roughly €650 million ($720 million) from fund manager Nordic Real Estate Partners (NREP). The quartet included the Danish doctors’ pension Lægernes Pensionskasse, engineering pension DIP, the pension for lawyers and economists JØP, and PFA Pension.

According to a statement on NREP’s website, the portfolio consisted of 28 “logistics properties” across Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The transaction was one of the largest property deals in Europe.