LaSalle wins $1bn US property mandate from large European institution

LaSalle Investment Management has won a $1bn (€754m) US property mandate from a large, unnamed European institutional investor.

LaSalle declined to provide the name or any further details about the investor.

The mandate is to invest in direct real estate across all commercial property types in primary as well as top secondary markets in the US, LaSalle said.

Jason Kern, LaSalle Americas CEO, said the company was still seeing strong interest from “sophisticated investors” from around the world in more customised strategies.

He said: “We anticipate continued economic growth and improving real estate fundamentals over the next few years, and believe ongoing changes in demographics, technology and urbanisation will provide attractive risk-adjusted investment returns across most major property types in the US.”

LaSalle also announced it had raised more than CAD216m (€149m) from Canadian investors after completing the second close of its Canadian Income & Growth Fund IV.

The firm said at the end of January that it had raised CAD110m from the fund’s first close. 

Altogether the fund is targeting CAD250m in equity, and a final close is expected on or before December 20 this year, LaSalle said.

The firm said the strategy was to identify and capitalise on assets with solid income growth and capital appreciation potential.

“We are targeting industrial developments in the west-end of Toronto as well as in Western Canada where there is strong demand, combined with little new supply,” said Chris Langstaff, senior vice president of research and strategy for LaSalle.  

The team would also invest in edge-of-central-business-district offices and some suburban office areas that had access to transit, he said.

LaSalle said it recently bought suburban office buildings in Calgary and Edmonton for the fund.

In July, LaSalle also announced that it had raised $1bn for its Asia investment strategies, including a final close for its Asia Opportunity Fund IV, as well as equity raised for two separate account mandates in Japan and Australia.