LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”) today announced it has entered into an agreement with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (“TRS”) to invest an initial equity allocation of $205 million in real estate opportunities in North America and, eventually, around the globe.  The discretionary investment fund will be managed by LaSalle Investment Management, a leading global real estate investment manager with $36 billion of assets under management.

The fund will invest in real estate co-investment opportunities presented to LaSalle by private equity general partners (“GPs”) who specialize in such investments.  The fund will initially focus on existing relationships within TRS’ stable of GP fund managers, although it is expected that LaSalle will eventually consider investing a portion of the capital into co-investment opportunities with GPs in which TRS does not have an existing relationship.  LaSalle will seek to build a diversified portfolio of investments based on geography, property type, risk profile, and GP sponsorship.

The fund will identify compelling macro-level strategies for the coming two- to three-year period and then pursue top-performing GPs with expertise in the targeted strategies.  LaSalle expects the fund to be able to capitalize on attractive opportunities given the current shortage of capital in the marketplace for real estate investments.

Dan Witte, Managing Director, LaSalle Investment Management comments: “LaSalle is very pleased to be expanding our long-term relationship with TRS.  We have a long history of successfully working with numerous partners on a wide array of real estate investments.  We believe that this capital -- flexible, efficient and market-sensitive -- will be well-received by potential partners today.”