VCCircle

US pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) is looking at investing in real estate in India and China. “Asia is going to be a major player in the long term,” CalPERS’ senior real estate investment officer Michael McCook told Reuters. “But we don’t go for speculative returns, we’re not swinging for home runs in international markets.” In India, which does meet CalPERS stock investment criteria, the fund will contribute around $100-400 million for building housing in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

CalPERS wants about half of its property investment to be abroad within five years, against the present level of about one-tenth. At the same time, the money it devotes to property is set to rise to around 9-10% of the $183 billion fund by the end of this year from 6.8% now, according to CalPERS’ senior real estate investment officer Michael McCook. McCook said he expected an annual internal rates of return (IRR) after tax of around 15%. [Via The Financial Express]