OCERS’ real estate beats benchmark by more than 250 bps

The real estate portfolio of the $11.9 billion Orange County Employees Retirement System beat both its year-to-date and one-year return benchmarks by more than 250 basis points. OCERS’ real estate portfolio has returned 8.88 percent in 2014 through July 31 (the year-to-date benchmark returned 6.23 percent) and returned 15.39 percent for the 12 months ending July 31 (the one-year benchmark returned 12.86 percent).

The retirement system designated $200 million for noncore investments a year ago and nearly doubled its allocation to noncore real estate from approximately 15 percent to 30 percent, as well as increased its allocation to industrial real estate from 11.02 percent to closer to 40 percent. The changes followed a $50