Pension funds have been steadily increasing their exposure to real estate over the past few years, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon.

While pension funds are historically skittish of real estate markets as they begin to mature, Pension Real Estate Association director of research Greg MacKinnon says this time funds will move deeper into the sector, National Real Estate Investor reports. MacKinnon says this will happen for two reasons: first, real estate has become a more mainstream investment; second, real estate has proven to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns.

According to Preqin, US pension funds have been steadily shoveling more cash into real estate, rising from an average 6% of assets under management a few years ago to its current 7.3%. Global pension funds are even more exposed to the sector, with allocations at 8.8% and climbing. [NREI]