GPT Group’s acquisitive wholesale office fund is in talks to boost its interest in Brisbane landmark One One One Eagle Street with a play that could leave it with a two-thirds stake in the near $900 million tower in train.
The project won the backing of Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, and it, GPT, and its wholesale fund each held one-third stakes. he unlisted trust is now believed to be exercising an option over the ADIA interest, but the manager declined to comment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC Real Estate Pte Ltd, has acquired G-Square, a Seoul-based retail complex, for $136 million. The complex was completed in 2014 and is spread over an area of 238,248.43 square meters. It has 28 stories and is located in the heart of Anyang, a bustling metropolitan area in the southern part of Seoul.
The complex is strategically located as it offers direct access to the city’s subway. Besides retail outlets, G-Square also has offices, spread over an area of 34,681 square meters. The complex is operated by one of the largest retail operators in South Korea, Lotte Shopping Co. However, after acquisition, it will be managed by IGIS Asset Management, a leading real estate management company in South Korea……………………………………Full Article: Source

Qatari Diar’s plans to convert the US Embassy in London into a luxury hotel have received government approval this week, the project’s architect said.
The London Chancery for the US Embassy at 30 Grosvenor Square, Mayfair, will undergo a “sensitive and adaptive re-use” to become a 137-bedroom hotel with shops, restaurants, bars and a spa. It will be extended to span nine stories, three of which will be underground……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Private equity firms are charging far too much in fees and are not investing enough of their own money in the deals they do, according to a former head of private investments at one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.
Georges Sudarskis, formerly chief of the private investment programme at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, said that the current private equity fund model is a “rigged arrangement”. Sudarskis, who led Adia’s private investment programme between 1998 and 2009, said that fund managers’ and investors’ interests are no longer aligned……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norges Bank Real Estate Management acquired an office and retail building on Oxford Street, the U.K.’s busiest shopping street, from Great Portland Estates Plc for 276.5 million pounds ($345 million).
The property is leased in advance of its completion next year to New Look, Benetton and Moneysupermarket.com Group Plc, Great Portland said in a statement. The yield on the purchase is 3.2 percent…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Great Portland Estates has completed the sale of 73/89 Oxford Street and 1 Dean Street in London to Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Real Estate Management for £276.5m.
The price reflects a net initial yield to the buyer of 3.2%. The scheme is pre-let to New Look Retailers, Benetton and Moneysupermarket.com with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 17 years. The rent on completion will be £9.74m a year…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC will buy P3 Logistics Parks for $2.7 billion in what’s being called Europe’s largest real-estate deal of 2016. GIC will buy P3 Logistics Parks for 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion), the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund said on Monday, in what it said was Europe’s largest real-estate deal of 2016.
P3, which runs logistics properties across Europe, was sold by TPG Real Estate and Ivanhoé Cambridge. With more 163 warehouses across nine countries, P3 has 11 new sites are under construction, with 300,000 square metres of approved development scheduled by year-end…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Kirkland & Ellis has advised opposite Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the largest European real estate transaction of the year as Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC picked up P3 from TPG Real Estate for $2.7bn.
GIC signed a deal to acquire P3 from TPG Real Estate and its shareholder Ivanhoe Cambridge last week (4 November) in a deal which spans across nine jurisdictions. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close by the end of 2016…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Australia’s sovereign wealth fund Future Fund has noted that the challenging economic and market conditions globally have made it attractive to diversify into areas not linked to traditional equity or debt market, highlighting the role of private equity in its investment portfolio.
With 10.4 per cent of its current asset allocations in the private equity category, Future Fund said, in its annual report 2015-2016, venture capital and growth equity accounted for around 46 per cent of its private equity programe, which itself is valued at around $12.8 billion…………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Future Fund has scaled back its exposure to property in the first quarter as it reported returns in line with its mandated target. For the three months to September 30, the sovereign wealth fund recorded a 1.5 per cent return, pushing its funds above $124 billion.
The breakdown of asset allocation at the end of the quarter showed a significant move away from property, with its share of assets sliding 0.5 percentage points to 6.5 per cent. Private equity as a share of assets also declined significantly, from 10.4 per cent to 10 per cent………………………………………Full Article: Source

Future Fund managing director David Neal has said the nation’s sovereign wealth fund will continue to shun risk amid a shift away from property assets through the first quarter and an eight-year peak in cash holdings.
The Future Fund booked a 1.5 per cent return for the three months to September 30, matching its mandated target and ­pushing funds under management above $124 billion for the first time. Figures on the breakdown of assets revealed a 0.4 percentage point rise in cash to 22.1 per cent, the second-highest share since the final quarter of 2009………………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s $870 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has removed the valuation risk premium it had placed on its British property portfolio following Britain’s vote to leave the EU, it said on Friday when publishing its full third-quarter results.
The fund is one of Britain’s biggest foreign investors, owning shares in most top UK companies and holding $11 billion in government bonds. It also co-owns Regent Street, one of London’s premier shopping streets. In August, the fund cut the value of its UK property portfolio by 5 percent, or 1.9 billion crowns ($230 million), prompted by external assessors reporting greater uncertainty in their valuation after the Brexit vote……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The $120 billion Future Fund nailed its timing around the reduction of some key listed property exposures in 2015-16, with its portfolio disclosures showing that Stockland, Federation Centres and Goodman exited its top-100 holdings ahead of a steep correction in property stocks, making way for American names.
The sovereign wealth fund’s list of its largest listed shareholdings as of June 30 also indicates the Future Fund either quit or heavily sold down its exposure to Groupe Eurotunnel, which was hard hit by the Brexit vote, and Google……………………………………..Full Article: Source

Senior Commercial Counselor at the US Department of Commerce Jeff Hamilton revealed that more than half of Kuwait’s sovereign wealth funds are invested in the United States. Recently, the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) disclosed that over $300 billion of its funds is invested in the US.
“Many of its investments are in real estate. This was during the time when US real estate was on the downside. But Kuwait and China took advantage and purchased several commercial properties in the US. Earlier in the year, a number of Kuwaitis purchased several hotels in the Midwest along with townhouses…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Mumtalakat, Bahrain’s sovereign wealth fund, is planning to invest heavily in the country’s real estate sector in the coming years, the company’s chief executive officer said. New hotels, shopping malls and spas would be constructed to boost tourism, Mahmood H Al Kooheji said, adding that the total investment in the projects would be about $500 million (Dh1.84 billion) over the next five years.
“There is a huge demand for real estate and tourism related projects in Bahrain due to large number of Saudis travelling to the country to spend time. The supply is not matching the demand and we hope to fill the gap with the new projects,” said Al Kooheji………………………………….Full Article: Source

China’s sovereign wealth fund CIC has made a large investment in German residential real estate, adding to a string of recent buys of Chinese groups in Europe’s largest economy, sources close to the deal said.
German property group BGP has been sold to vehicles advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREF) at a value of more than 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) including debt, BGP said in a statement. The bulk of the money involved in the deal came from CIC, two people close to the transaction said…………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, has bought a 50 percent stake in a portfolio of logistics properties in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, the fund said in a statement. The stake was bought from Prologis, which retains a 50 percent sake.
“Norges Bank Real Estate Management paid 55.3 million euros ($60.20 million) for its 50 percent interest, valuing the portfolio of eight buildings at 110.5 million euros,” the fund said………………………………………Full Article: Source

China’s sovereign wealth fund CIC has made a large investment in German residential real estate, adding to a string of recent buys of Chinese groups in Europe’s largest economy, sources close to the deal said.
German property group BGP has been sold to vehicles advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREF) at a value of more than 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) including debt, BGP said in statement. The bulk of the money involved in the deal came from CIC, two people close to the transaction said. CIC was not available for comment after regular business hours………………………………………Full Article: Source

Property market is a volatile market and decline and rise in values in here are normal, SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov at the press conference.
According to him, SOFAZ sees these investments as a long-term investment: “Decline and rise in values of the offices directly affect the leasers. We signed a long-term contract with our lessees. Amounts to be received from lease are known. Of course, we are affected by decline and rise. SOFAZ properties are estimated by international auditors. We measure everything with the real prices”………………………………….Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has revised the value of its UK property holdings just two months after a writedown of its portfolio. Trond Grande, NBIM’s deputy chief executive, told UK media that it had marked up the value of its UK portfolio to a level close to where it was before the UK’s vote to leave the European Union in June.
The fund wrote down the value of its UK property holdings by 5% in August, citing market uncertainty. The Government Pension Fund Global has significant exposure to UK property, with 16% of its NOK221bn (€23.6bn) real estate portfolio in London and 23% in the UK – more than twice its exposure to French property………………………………….Full Article: Source

The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund has revised up the value of its UK property portfolio after cutting it days after the vote to leave the EU. Norway’s $890bn oil fund had written down the value of its properties — mostly retail and office space in London’s West End — by 5 per cent at the end of the second quarter, just after the Brexit vote on June 23, due to the uncertainty in the market.
But Trond Grande, the fund’s deputy chief executive, said that it had now marked up the market value of its UK property to “approximately the same” level as it was before the write down. “We feel more secure with the valuation than we did at the end of the second quarter,” he added…………………………………….Full Article: Source

Norway’s Global Government Pension Fund, the biggest sovereign wealth fund in the world by assets under management, has performed a major reversal on its views of Britain’s property market just over a month after sounding the alarm over Brexit concerns.
The fund has revised up the value of its UK property portfolio, having previously cut that value by around 5% after citing challenges about how “to value unlisted properties in the UK market.”……………………………………Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and student accommodation developer GSA have bought a £700m portfolio of student halls – the largest deal in the sector this year. The pair acquired the portfolio from funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, along with a new operating platform, The Student Housing Company, which is the brand the halls will be run under.
Overseas funds have become more active in the student sector in recent years, as the buildings move from being considered an alternative asset to being more mainstream………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Och-Ziff Capital Management Group has agreed to pay nearly $200 million in penalties for bribing officials to gain investments from sovereign wealth funds, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a press release on Thursday.
“The illicit payments induced the Libyan Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund to invest in Och-Ziff managed funds,” the release explained. Other bribes were paid to secure mining rights and corruptly influence government officials in Libya, Chad, Niger, Guinea and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the release noted………………………………………Full Article: Source

Korea’s sovereign wealth fund Korea Investment Corporation (KIC) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) to invite bids from data vendors to provide alternative investment data management services. The duration of the appointment would be three years.
The RFP announcement on the KIC’s website stipulates that the qualified service provider must offer high-quality and efficient services that will support the KIC’s current needs for alternative investment data management, and allow the aggregation and integration of data from data providers. Additionally, the service provider is required to provide support for collecting, verifying and transforming data from data providers and feeding data into the KIC’s internal systems………………………………………Full Article: Source

The Qatar Investment Authority has abandoned talks to buy London’s Grosvenor House Hotel and two hotels in New York, increasing the likelihood that the trophy properties will be acquired by the UK’s richest men, the Reuben brothers.
The QIA’s withdrawal, confirmed by three people briefed on the situation, prolongs the troubles of India’s Sahara Group, which owns the Grosvenor House and majority stakes in New York’s Plaza and Dream Downtown hotels……………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth fund is pursuing a strategy to increase its portfolio weight of real estate assets to about 5% within the foreseeable future - planning to increase the weight by 1% per year until 2020, with a corresponding decrease in bond holdings.
So far most of the real estate investments (outside of Europe) have been in North America, exploding in recent years and comprising billions of dollars annually. The latest in the surge was announced today in Washington DC…………………………………Full Article: Source

Norway’s Norges Bank Real Estate Management, known for having the world’s largest sovereign fund at $888 billion, is in the midst of acquiring $453 million worth of San Francisco real estate. It’s investing the money in two office properties in the city, and will ultimately have a 44 percent common equity interest in the buildings.
The two properties, 100 First Street and 303 Second Street, are both in San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood. The former is a 27-story high-rise with graduated tiers and a pale marble facade, while the latter is a set of twin nine- and 10-story buildings — it features an outdoor plaza, reflecting pool and terraced seating………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s $875 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, pounced on London’s Oxford Street after U.K. voters decided to leave the European Union. Just about two weeks after Britons unexpectedly voted to leave the EU at the end of June, the fund snapped up a retail and office property for 124 million pounds ($164 million) from the Aberdeen U.K. Property Fund.
The deal “may have been the fastest transaction we’ve ever made,” Karsten Kallevig, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Real Estate Management, said in an interview in Oslo on Tuesday. The fund got a “significant discount” because the seller had liquidity pressure, he said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

BlackRock Inc. has started a hedge fund with a $200 million investment from New Zealand’s sovereign-wealth fund that will seek to profit from bets on companies involved in takeovers.
The merger-arbitrage fund began trading this month and is run by former Harvard money manager Mark McKenna, who oversees the firm’s global event-driven strategy aimed at benefiting from takeovers, divestitures and management changes, according to a person with knowledge of the matter………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council revived plans to sell $1.5 billion of private equity fund stakes, people with knowledge of the matter said. ADIC, which invests in asset classes including private equity, infrastructure and hedge funds, is working with an adviser to find a buyer for the assets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The assets are primarily from European and U.S. funds, the people said.
The government-controlled fund manager had previously been in talks to sell the portfolio to French asset manager Ardian before pulling the deal last year as valuations of funds in the secondary market continued to appreciate………………………………………..Full Article: Source

GIC, the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore, is rumoured to be in advanced negotiations to buy P3, reports Ziarul Financiar quoting market sources. A formal announcement could be made by the end of the year. Australian group Macquarie is also reported to be interested in purchasing the warehouse developer.
P3 was acquired by TPG Real Estate and Ivanhoe Cambridge in 2013. P3’s asset base now comprises 163 warehouses, totaling 3.3 mln sqm of space across nine countries as well as a land bank with zoning for more than 1.4 mln sqm of potential development. Ziarul Financiar estimates the company’s value at around EUR 3 bln………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Abu Dhabi Investment Council revived plans to sell $1.5 billion of private equity fund stakes, people with knowledge of the matter said. ADIC, which invests in asset classes including private equity, infrastructure and hedge funds, is working with an adviser to find a buyer for the assets, said the people, who asked not to be identified because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly. The assets are primarily from European and U.S. funds, the people said.
The government-controlled fund manager had previously been in talks to sell the portfolio to French asset manager Ardian before pulling the deal last year as valuations of funds in the secondary market continued to appreciate. ADIC is restarting the sale process for portfolio management reasons, one person said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

China’s $814 billion sovereign wealth fund may increase investments in hedge funds in Asia, betting they can beat rivals trading in developed markets. Hedge fund managers face fewer competitors in Asia, where markets are less efficient and mature than in the U.S. and Europe, said Roslyn Zhang, managing director of fixed income and absolute-return investments at China Investment Corp.
Money will probably be allocated to the funds in the next six to 12 months, she said. “Over the last few years we’ve seen the quality of talent improve a lot,” Zhang said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Realty major DLF will invest about Rs 500 crore to develop an IT Park in Chennai as the commercial real estate market has picked up in major cities. Earlier, sources had said that Blackstone, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are among shortlisted investors.
“We received multiple bids from sovereign funds and global private equity firms. We have shortlisted few,” DLF senior executive director (finance) Saurabh Chawla had said recently………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Bengaluru-based commercial real estate developer RMZ Corp is in the process of forming a second joint venture with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, to buy development assets across top cities in the country. The new commercial platform will see QIA more than double its investment made through RMZ. In 2013, it had invested $300 million, or 1,800 crore.
“QIA has committed to give money, and it will be based on project requirements,” a person familiar with RMZ plans said. “The earlier platform with QIA invested in investment assets while the new one will deploy money in developmental assets.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Bengaluru-based commercial real estate developer RMZ Corp is in the process of forming a second joint venture with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, to buy development assets across top cities in the country.
The new commercial platform will see QIA more than double its investment made through RMZ. In 2013, it had invested $300 million, or Rs 1,800 crore. “QIA has committed to give money, and it will be based on project requirements,” a person familiar with RMZ plans said. “The earlier platform with QIA invested in investment assets while the new one will deploy money in developmental assets.” ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Future Fund is looking to venture and early-stage opportunities in its private equity markets for growth, as it sees risk and fragility in listed markets. “Listed equities, to put it politely, were lacklustre over the last financial year. The world index lost 2.7 per cent in global currency terms, the local market just squeezed into positive territory with a 0.2 per cent return,” said David Neal, chief executive of the Future Fund.
He added the source of the $123 billion sovereign wealth fund’s 4.8 per cent return for the 2015/16 financial year came from its private markets portfolio………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The panic in financial markets, which followed Britain’s shock Brexit vote and a slowdown in the Chinese economy, has prompted Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to rein in their spending on high-profile overseas office blocks and hotels.
The amount of money being spent by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and big-name investors on commercial property in the United Kingdom, Eur­ope, Asia and the United States plummeted in the first half of this year, new research shows………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Future Fund’s chief investment officer has warned the private equity industry that the days of charging generous performance fees for returns based on “luck or lazy use of leverage” have gone forever.
Raphael Arndt told the AVCAL Alpha Conference in Melbourne that true value creation strategies were now more important than ever for the $123 billion sovereign wealth fund. “Ensure that you are focused on true value-add, are flexible with fees and terms and, most of all, operate in a transparent way,” Arndt said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The investment chief of Australia’s sovereign wealth fund has told the local private equity industry he wants to allocate more capital to it but first needs to see better transparency on fees.
Future Fund chief investment officer Raphael Arndt said there had “never been a more important time” for long-term investors to have a meaningful exposure to private equity, as he called on the local industry to do more to make its fees and terms “world class”. “The role of private equity, and in particular venture capital, in our portfolio is more important now than it has ever been.” ……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is aiming to take part in the privatisation of oil producer Bashneft, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the fund, said on Thursday. “We certainly will participate in Bashneft (privatisation),” he told reporters. The Russian government plans to sell a 50.08 percent stake in Bashneft. The stake has been valued at around 300 billion roubles ($4.6 billion).
The RDIF plans to look for investors and bid itself for one tenth of the Bashneft stake being offered, Dmitriev said. He compared the fund’s plans with a model previosly used when it took part in the privatisation of diamond producer Alrosa earlier this year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s $888 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, has bought stakes worth $453 million in two office properties in San Francisco, the fund’s manager said on Wednesday.
Norges Bank Real Estate Management said it was buying the stakes, of 44 percent, in companies owned by Kilroy Realty Corporation. Kilroy, which previously fully owned the properties, will keep 56 percent, it added………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund just invested $453 million in a 44% stake in two office properties in San Francisco, owned by Kilroy Realty Corporation, which retains a majority stake of 56%, Reuters reports.
This is the fund’s latest in a surge of real estate investments in North America. Since the fund was given mandate to invest in real estate outside of Europe in 2013, 431 investments have been made in North America, totalling NOK 88,6 billion, or $10 billion………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and Canada pension plan were main beneficiaries. Some U.S. private equity firms are courting their biggest and savviest investors with privileged access to special fee-saving deals without telling other investors, according to people involved in buyout firms’ fundraising.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has signaled its interest in overseeing such deals after fining several private equity firms in recent months for improper disclosure of fees………………………………………Full Article: Source

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has made an iconic purchase in America — a stake in the company that owns New York’s Empire State Building. The $622-million purchase by the Qatar Investment Authority comes as the Doha fund increases its investments in the U.S. as the small country on the Arabian Peninsula tries to cope with low global oil and gas prices.
The Empire State Realty Trust Inc., which manages the 102-story, 1,454-foot (443-meter) -tall building, announced the Qatari purchase late Tuesday, saying the fund would gain a 9.9-percent stake in the company. The trust owns a total of 14 office properties and six retail properties around the New York area………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Qatar Investment Authority’s acquisition of a 9.9-percent stake in Empire State Realty Trust, announced Wednesday, is an unusual move for a sovereign wealth fund. But it offers several advantages, analysts say. “It is relatively rare to see [sovereign wealth funds] buy a stock position,” said John Guinee, an analyst at Stifel. Far more often, they buy direct stakes in buildings.
When Norway’s sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management invested with publicly traded Boston Properties last year, for example, it didn’t buy its stocks. Instead, it bought a 45-percent joint venture interest in the Citigroup Center at 601 Lexington Avenue for $725 million. In 2013, it had bought a 45-percent stake in Boston Properties’ 7 Times Square for $684 million………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Qatar Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund of the Middle Eastern country, bought a 9.9 percent interest in Empire State Realty Trust, owner of New York’s Empire State Building.
The fund purchased 29.6 million newly issued Class A common shares at $21 each, and will have a 9.9 percent economic and voting interest in the real estate investment trust. The acquisition translates into a new $622 million investment in Empire State Realty, the company said in a statement Tuesday………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Most agree commercial real estate is down since Brexit, but estimates differ over how much. Property broker CBRE estimated that property values across the U.K. fell 3.3% in July. Data-firm MSCI Inc. said values fell 2.8%.
Norway’s sovereign-wealth fund said it took 5% off the value of its U.K. property portfolio because of Brexit. Aberdeen Asset Management, which operates a U.K. property fund, at first knocked its value down 17% to reflect rapid sales but more recently said it is off 5%………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Norway’s $893-billion sovereign wealth fund cut the value of its UK property portfolio by 5 percent after Britain’s vote to leave the EU, and is concerned at the prospect that Brexit might limit free movement of goods, services and people, it said on Wednesday.
The world’s largest sovereign fund is one of Britain’s biggest foreign investors, owning shares in most top UK companies and holding $11 billion in government bonds. It co-owns Regent Street, one of London’s premier shopping streets. Conversely, Britain is crucial to the fund as its second-largest investment location after the United States, accounting for 10.2 percent of the fund’s value at end-2015………………………………………..Full Article: Source