California State Teachers Retirement System’s (CalSTRS) real estate portfolio has underperformed over the 12 months ending 30 June 2025, generating a negative return of -3%.

CalSTRS fiscal year 2024–25 returns (net of fees)

Source: CalSTRS

(1) Includes Sustainable Investment & Stewardship Strategies public and/or private investments.(2) Private asset valuations are as of March 31, 2025, and adjusted for cash flows through June 30, 2025.

The US public pension fund said its $47bn (€40.1bn) real estate portfolio performed below its benchmark, the NFI-ODCE Value-Weighted Index, which recorded a 1.2% net return over the same period. 

CalSTRS declined to comment, but according to sources familiar with the portfolio, the underperformance could have been caused by traditional office holdings and life-science assets.

During the pension fund’s previous fiscal year, the real estate portfolio  outperformed its benchmark, despite generating a negative return of -9.8%.

Over the last five years, CalSTRS’s real estate portfolio generated a 3.2% return, and 6% over the last 10 years. The pension fund did not provide equivalent figures for its benchmark.

As of 30 June this year, the real estate portfolio made up 12.78% of the pension fund’s $367.7bn total assets, below its 15% target allocation.

The Âé¶¹Ó³»­ Real Assets Top 150 Real Estate Investors 2025 ranks CalSTRS as the 10th largest real estate investor.

For the 2025 fiscal year, CalSTRS’s overall investments generated an 8.5% net return, slightly outperforming its benchmark’s 8.4%.

Scott Chan, CIO at CalSTRS, said: â€œWhile the 8.5% return over the past year is a solid result, our true commitment lies in creating consistent, decades-long growth for our members’ pensions.

“Our highly diversified portfolio has yielded a track record of returns above our 7.0% investment assumption and demonstrates our effective approach to investing in an increasingly complex market.�

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