REAL ESTATE - A new real estate investment manager has been created - Quadrant Real Estate Advisors. This company has two parents, both Australian-based.
The Mirvac Group is one while former senior executives of GMAC Institutional Advisors comprise the other. Each has a 50% holding.
One of those executives is Kurt Wright, now chief executive of Quadrant. He said: "Mirvac was looking for a way to gain entry into the real estate investment management business in the United States. Australia has superannuation funds, which are very similar to our 401-K plans. They would like to put some of this capital to work in the US."
Quadrant has total assets under management of $3.1bn. The majority of this is through mortgages, CMBS and REIT investments. Its list of pension fund clients includes California Public Employees Retirement System, Denver Public Schools Retirement System and Minnesota State Board of Investment.
This will change in the near future. Quadrant plans on being a player in the direct private real estate business. It would like to be able to acquire $200m worth of properties in 2006. All the major property types will be considered except industrial.
This is because Mirvac had a previous relationship with Chicago-based CenterPoint Properties. It wants this to continue in the future.
Quadrant will be starting a new open-ended commingled fund this month. The long-range plans are to have it reach $1bn in total assets over the next three to five years. The real estate manager has received a $5m co-investment commitment from Mirvac itself.
The Quadrant fund will invest in real estate through equity and public and private debt. Investors are being wooed by a projected dividend of 8% on a yearly basis. They will have the option of putting capital in on a monthly basis and take capital out quarterly.
The leverage will be around 50%.
