School & District Management

Wise Retirement Investment?

By Hannah Lepow — July 13, 2010 1 min read
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The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the largest public retirement fund in the state, plans to invest $500 million of its assets in mall owner General Growth Properties Inc., which has been in bankruptcy reorganization since last year, reports the Dallas Morning News.

In exchange for its investment, the school system will receive shares of General Growth, which is $27 billion in debt, at a 25 percent discount from their market price.

General Growth’s 2009 bankruptcy was the largest real estate Chapter 11 filing in U.S. history, and the company believes it will be “strengthened” by the TRS investment. What remains less clear is how well General Growth Properties Inc. will fare going forward.

The agreement, which affects nearly 1.3 million public and higher education employees and retirees, is subject to bankruptcy court approval.

Has your state made any interesting investments—either wise or unwise—in its teacher retirement fund as of late?

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.