Cocoa Beach pension boards agree to 5% real-estate debt allocation, defer manager choice

The Cocoa Beach Police and Fire Pension boards voted to allocate 5% of each plan’s assets to a real-estate debt strategy and tabled the final selection of a manager for a future meeting.

The allocation decision came after Carrie, a Mariner investment consultant, presented a manager search that highlighted two debt-focused candidates — Bloomfield Capital and Mavic Capital — and recommended committing roughly $1 million per plan to the chosen strategy. Carrie said the recommended approach would shift 5% of the funds into predominantly debt-oriented real estate strategies while keeping the remaining real-estate target in more equity-oriented vehicles.

“Bloomfield’s current yield profile is attractive and very hands-on,” Carrie said during the presentation. “Mavic’s portfolio currently yields about 11% and they can take slightly more opportunistic positions, including mezzanine loans.” She outlined fees and return targets: Bloomfield’s management fee was described at about 1.75% with a preferred return near 7.5%, while Mavic’s fee was described as about 1.5% with an 8% preferred return and a higher target net IRR for the opportunistic strategy.

Board members discussed timing, risk and minimum commitments. Carrie confirmed both managers would accept a $1 million commitment and that neither manager uses leverage on top of investor capital. She also said Bloomfield tends toward senior, secured loans and in-house asset management, while Mavic can pursue mezzanine and opportunistic deals and seeks additional guarantees or collateral when underwriting loans.

Board member Dan Adebasio asked about return sensitivity to falling interest rates. Carrie replied that coupons and yields would likely compress if rates fall, “maybe you go from 11 to 13 to more like 8 to 10,” but added that managers’ underwriting and floors on loan pricing can sustain returns in different rate environments. Pedro, the board’s advisor, confirmed there were no immediate legal or statutory barriers to making the allocation and reminded members that the state legislative session was ongoing but not expected to alter local plan rules.

After discussion, the boards approved the 5% allocation but agreed to postpone final selection of a manager and any binding capital call until directors could review additional due diligence. A motion to accept the 5% allocation and table the manager decision was made and seconded; the motion carried by voice vote.

The consultant said staff would arrange manager presentations at a subsequent meeting and provide sample deal-level materials and loss-history data for further review. Carrie also offered to connect board members to investor references and to schedule video calls with either manager before the next meeting.

The allocation decision is intended to be executed within the plans’ existing policy target for real estate (15% of each fund), drawing proportionally from other asset classes as needed to fund the new commitment. Carrie said the boards currently sit roughly 10–11% in real estate and the proposed 5% would bring allocations back toward the 15% policy target over time.