Opalesque Sovereign Wealth Funds Briefing » Alternative Investments

Gulf wealth funds raising private equity investments: Study

VRS — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:20:48 +0000

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SOFAZ says still interested in real estate abroad

VRS — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:13:54 +0000

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Real estate overtakes commodities as top sovereign fund asset

VRS — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:22:47 +0000

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Qatar buys 40pct stake in Milan’s Porta Nuova business district

VRS — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:21:52 +0000

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Wealth funds join charge into property assets

VRS — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:48:32 +0000

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Dubai eyes $500mln distressed property fund by end-2013

VRS — Fri, 10 May 2013 03:39:41 +0000

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Norway fund’s 3pct in German alstria confirms faster real estate build

VRS — Tue, 07 May 2013 03:51:00 +0000

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Norway’s oil fund ramps up pace of property acquisitions

VRS — Mon, 06 May 2013 02:29:43 +0000

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Norwegian sovereign fund steps up investment

VRS — Mon, 06 May 2013 02:29:29 +0000

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Azerbaijani oil fund not to use gold for speculation

VRS — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 04:24:03 +0000

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Azeri sovereign wealth fund plans to plough $1bln into international real estate

VRS — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 03:00:27 +0000

Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund is planning to invest around $1bn in international real estate in 2013, as it aims to diversify its portfolio, a senior official stated on April 25. The State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (Sofaz), which started investing into foreign real estate in December, is looking mainly to invest in Asian and Australian real estate, Executive Director Shakhmar Movsumov told Reuters. (more…)

SOFAZ keeps on investing in foreign real estate markets

VRS — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:32:07 +0000

Sovereign wealth funds across the globe are looking for ways to diversify their risks by expanding investments beyond traditional asset classes. In the last decade, the state oil fund SOFAZ — an entity that accumulates and manages Azerbaijan’s oil and gas revenues — has been growing rapidly both in terms of the size of assets under management and its investment structure. (more…)

SOFAZ plans to purchase real estate in three countries

VRS — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 03:31:53 +0000

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Sovereign wealth funds could be private equity’s new best friend

VRS — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:31:33 +0000

With private equity firms testing the limits of limited partners’ ability and willingness to fill their new-fund coffers, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are emerging as a potential source of capital to help bridge the fund-raising gap. As we point out in Bain’s Global Private Equity Report 2012, SWFs are eager to partner with a wide range of PE firms—provided general partners (GPs) understand how to work with them. (more…)

CIC bullish on gold in face of price slump

VRS — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 04:45:22 +0000

Wealth fund’s exposure is limited, board chief says, citing good performance of investment, and sees metal’s price rising over the long term. A senior official at China Investment Corp says the US$500 billion sovereign wealth fund has exposure to gold, although “not on a big scale”, and the fund is confident that gold prices will rise in the long run owing to limited global supply. (more…)

Qatar plans to buy hedge fund managers as part of expansion strategy

VRS — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:28:30 +0000

The Qatar Financial Centre has plans in place to buy hedge funds as part of a strategy to bolster the asset management industry based in the country. In an interview given to a local media outlet, Yousuf Al-Jaida, chief strategic development officer said the QFC is currently implementing a four-stage process to build the local asset management presence in Doha and that the strategy of buying hedge funds is part of “Wave 2”. (more…)

Qatar sovereign fund says German real estate good opportunity

VRS — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:12:11 +0000

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GIC lends helping hand to Indian developers

VRS — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 04:47:42 +0000

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KKR, Singapore GIC to set up real estate-focused NBFC

VRS — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 04:40:31 +0000

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. LP (KKR), one of the world’s largest private equity (PE) firms, is joining hands with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to set up a non-banking financial company (NBFC) that will lend funds to property developers in India as other sources of cash dry up. To begin with, the NBFC, for which the regulatory approvals are currently under way, will have a corpus of $150 million (around Rs.810 crore), said three people close to the development. This will be the first real estate-focused NBFC in India. (more…)

SWFs poised to be aggressive with US CRE

VRS — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:26:01 +0000

Sovereign wealth funds, it is no secret, have been steadily building up a war chest of funds and all signs point to an unleashing this year. What may take some by surprise is the level of their wealth and the aggressiveness by which they will deploy their assets—especially as they step up their property investments. (more…)

Future Fund “can’t save mortgage funds”

VRS — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:24:59 +0000

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Sovereign wealth in European property

VRS — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 04:29:30 +0000

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Would You Please Yield?

VRS — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:04:07 +0000

At the start of 2010, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund had no property investments to speak of. Three years later, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, which manages the oil-rich nation’s wealth through Norges Bank Investment Management, has committed around $6.7 billion to property. The investments are mainly focused on prime office and retail space in major European capitals, and Norges Bank has said it plans to spend billions more over the next decade. (more…)

Sovereign wealth funds move to real estate investments

VRS — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:03:48 +0000

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Sovereign funds keep pouring into London’s real estate assets

VRS — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 04:03:25 +0000

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Mumtalakat plans $150mln Bahrain investment

VRS — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:59:29 +0000

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Bahrain’s SWF to bail out stalled developments

VRS — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:59:14 +0000

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China invests forex reserves in UK property

VRS — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 03:41:10 +0000

U.K.-registered Gingko Tree Investment Ltd., a wholly owned unit of China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), has invested more than 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in at least four deals, including a water utility, student housing, and office buildings in London and Manchester, according to data providers that track property deals and disclosures by the companies that received the investments. (more…)

China quietly invests reserves in U.K. properties

VRS — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 03:27:49 +0000

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iNVEZZ explores 2012’s record levels of property investment by sovereign wealth funds

VRS — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 03:17:53 +0000

James Navarro de Paz begins his news item on property investment by quoting a study undertaken by the Sovereign Investment Lab (SIB) at Bocconi University in Milan, which shows that in 2012 a record portion of sovereign wealth fund investments were in real estate assets, bringing some diversification to the typical portfolio mix of stocks and bonds. (more…)

CapitaLand, Temasek and Iskandar to build $3.2bln township in Danga Bay, Johor

VRS — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 03:23:03 +0000

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Azerbaijan’s wealth fund planning Australian property purchases

VRS — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 05:33:55 +0000

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Azerbaijan to buy Australian real estate

VRS — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:56:26 +0000

Azerbaijan’s $34 billion sovereign-wealth fund plans to buy commercial real estate in Australia as part of a strategy to add assets down under. “We plan to travel to Australia in order to meet with the leading market participants including regulators, developers, asset owners, and overseas investors to gain deeper understanding of the market,” said the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan, or Sofaz. (more…)

As SWFs look beyond bonds and equities, another great rotation is underway

VRS — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 03:56:11 +0000

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Norway’s SWF buys US property for first time

VRS — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:02:48 +0000

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund – currently worth 3.9 trillion kroner ($0.71 billion) – has purchased American property for the first time as it continues to expand its real estate holdings. The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global announced it had bought a 49.9% stake in five office properties along the east coast of the United States: two each in New York City and Washington, DC, and one in Boston. (more…)

Norway sovereign wealth fund enters US property market

VRS — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:33:26 +0000

Norway’s Government Pension Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, has entered the US real estate market by investing $600m (¤448m) in five office properties. The fund bought a 49.9 percent stake in five office buildings in Washington DC, New York and Boston after forming a joint venture with the seller, TIAA-CREF, a pension fund.The US fund will retain a 50.1 percent holding and will be responsible for managing the properties, it said. (more…)

TIAA-CREF plans more real estate deals with Norway wealth fund

VRS — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 04:33:16 +0000

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Sovereign wealth could reach 20pct in real estate - AXA’s Vaquier

VRS — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:10:02 +0000

Sovereign wealth funds see the risk-reward in European real estate as attractive, and could hit global property allocations as high as 20% of portfolios, says Pierre Vaquier, CEO of AXA Real Estate, the largest European property investment manager, which counts several such funds in its client list including the world’s biggest, the Norwegian Pension Fund. (more…)

Record property investment by sovereign funds

VRS — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 03:57:09 +0000

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Sovereign funds seen expanding property buying after record year

VRS — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 02:27:04 +0000

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Kuwait buys BoA European HQ for $600mln

VRS — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 02:26:39 +0000

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Australia Future fund looks to US, Europe property to hit targets

VRS — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 04:11:05 +0000

Australia’s state pension fund is seeking to build up its Australian infrastructure and U.S. and European property investments as it struggles to meet its mandated targets. The Future Fund said bank deleveraging after the global financial crisis meant there were still good opportunities for property investment, particularly in the stressed European and U.S. markets. (more…)

Qatar fund plans $1.36bln Italian hotel project

VRS — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 02:52:38 +0000

Qatar Holding, the investment arm of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, plans to build four luxury hotels - including a 150-room Harrods Hotel - on Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and an autonomous region of Italy. The massive one-billion-euro development project coming up on Sardinia’s Costa Smeralds is likely to be completed over the next 10 years, said Italian media reports citing Arzachena Mayor Alberto Ragnedda. (more…)

Qatari Diar puts Chelsea Barracks scheme on hold

VRS — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:04:15 +0000

Qatari Diar was left pondering its options about what to do with one of the world’s most expensive housing schemes. The property arm of the Qatari sovereign wealth fund announced it had put its US$3 billion (Dh11.02bn) Chelsea Barracks project in prime central London on hold because of doubts about whether the scheme of 448 luxury flats would financially stack up. (more…)

Qatar puts $4.7bln London project on hold

VRS — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:20:25 +0000

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GIC helps Laxfield start $1bln UK debt strategy

VRS — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 03:19:40 +0000

With an initial capital infusion from the real estate arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., Laxfield Capital has launched a new commercial lending program. The locally based commercial mortgage origination, investment management and advisory firm will invest up to $1 billion in commercial mortgages in the United Kingdom over the next 24 months. (more…)

GIC invests in $1.6bln UK property fund

VRS — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 04:04:58 +0000

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Sovereign funds eye retail investment in Italy, Spain

VRS — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:00:12 +0000

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Paris property seen in line for more sovereign wealth investment

VRS — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 04:13:33 +0000

More sovereign wealth fund capital is likely to be invested in Paris property as its managers come under rising pressure to find the core assets and place growing amounts of national savings, say French property specialists. Malaysia’s PNB may be the next to jump the Channel from London following Hong Kong’s Monetary Authority and, more recently, Azerbaijan’s SOFAZ. (more…)

Middle Eastern sovereign funds seek new assets

VRS — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:16:47 +0000

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Azeri State Fund to double gold reserves, buy Asian real estate

VRS — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:16:23 +0000

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund plans to double its gold holdings this year to 30 metric tons and invest in real estate in Asian capitals as it diversifies reserves. The fund, known as Sofaz, bought almost 15 tons of bullion last year as part of its plan to spend $1.5 billion to purchase 30 tons of gold in 2012 and 2013, Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov told state television channel AzTV. (more…)

SWFs dominate big office investments in 2012

VRS — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 03:18:08 +0000

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global leads a slew of cash-rich sovereign wealth funds that were the most active players in the largest office investments in Europe during 2013. Norway’s €500 bn oil fund invested at least €1.5 bn in three of the largest office real estate investments last year, according to data compiled by PropertyEU Research. (more…)

CIC eyes more investments in manufacturing, property

VRS — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:20:07 +0000

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AIF investors OK $2bln sale of assets to Future Fund

VRS — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 03:56:53 +0000

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Azerbaijani State Oil Fund brings first batch of gold

VRS — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 03:57:25 +0000

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Future Fund adds more US property to investment pie

VRS — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:04:34 +0000

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Better Capital partners with Irish pension fund

VRS — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 04:03:21 +0000

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Azerbaijani state oil fund expands scope of real estate investments

VRS — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 04:10:54 +0000

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Azerbaijan’s Paris, Moscow buys take European RE over EUR450mln

VRS — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:20:37 +0000

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Norway Oil Fund in EUR2.4bln Prologis JV; targets $11bln at US property

VRS — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 04:20:12 +0000

Norway has granted permission for its giant €508bn pension fund to invest in property outside Europe from this year. The news came days after its manager, Norges Bank Investment Management, signed a €2.4bn joint venture with US-based Prologis to invest in European industrial property - and followed an announcement that it is also targeting $11bn at the US. (more…)