CalPERS and GI Partners Launch $500 Million Fund to Buy Technology Advantaged Core Real Estate

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) announced today the launch of TechCore, LLC, a $500 million core real estate fund established with its real estate partner GI Partners to invest in technology advantaged properties in the United States.

The new fund, led by the Menlo Park, California-based GI Partners, will purchase data centers, internet gateways, corporate campuses for technology tenants, and life science properties located in core metropolitan cities throughout the nation and leased to industry leading tenants.

"This partnership represents the next generation of innovative investments to come in core real estate that is wired and ready to support the technology," said Joe Dear, Chief Investment Officer for CalPERS.

TechCore is a continuation of a long-standing and successful relationship between CalPERS and GI Partners. CalPERS committed $500 million to GI Partners Fund I in 2001, an investment that generated a 31 percent net annualized internal rate of return. CalPERS committed additional capital to GI Partners Funds II and III and has awarded GI Partners select separate account mandates including CalEast Global Logistics, LLC, a transportation advantaged warehouse and logistics real estate owner and operator.

"We are pleased to further expand our relationship with GI Partners with the TechCore commitment," said Ted Eliopoulos, CalPERS Senior Investment Officer for Real Assets. "We believe the firm's experience, network and investment discipline will prove successful."

CalPERS, with assets of approximately $235 billion, is the largest public pension fund in the U.S. It administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million California state, local government, and public school employees, retirees, and their families on behalf of more than 3,000 public employers, and health benefits for more than 1.3 million enrollees. The average CalPERS pension benefit is $2,332 per month.

The average benefit for those who retired in the most recent fiscal year that ended June 30, 2011, is $3,065 per month. More information about CalPERS is available at www.calpers.ca.gov.