Illinois TRS commits $100m to Blackstone

The $41 billion Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System has committed $100 million to The Blackstone Group for investment opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. The firm is currently fundraising for its Blackstone Real Estate Partners Asia fund, which follows an opportunistic strategy. It has a $4 billion target and is the third-largest real estate investment fund currently being marketed to investors.

The fund will invest in Australia, China, India and Japan. Blackstone held a $1.5 billion first close in June 2013. And the firm has already started to invest its capital in the region.

Blackstone currently administers $389.8 million in Illinois TRS investments. The retirement system’s real estate portfolio has $4.7 billion invested in real estate. In August, Il