Asset manager AXA IM Alts has added assets in Japan and the US to its global residential portfolio.

AXA IM Alts said it has bought two residential assets in Tokyo for €51m and invested an undisclosed sum to buy the Villas at West Road multifamily asset in Houston, Texas through a joint venture with TruAmerica Multifamily.

The assets in Tokyo comprise 158 studio, one- and two-bed rental apartments, the manager said adding that it has now made 15 acquisitions in Japan over the past year.

Laurent Jacquemin, the head of Asia-Pacific at AXA IM Alts, said the Tokyo acquisition is in line with AXA IM Alts’ wider long-term strategy to invest into residential asset classes which it believes are supported by favourable residential market fundamentals.

AXA IM Alts said the Villas at West Road asset – comprising 240 units across 22 two-storey residential buildings – represents the firm’s second investment into the Houston residential market following the acquisition of The Grand at LaCenterra, in Katy, in September last year.

Steve McCarthy, the head of North America at AXA IM Alts, said the new addition to the firm’s US multifamily portfolio presents an ”exciting opportunity to grow the company’s exposure to the Houston market, which is characterised by strong population and economic growth, driving residential demand”.

AXA IM Alts has a €25bn global portfolio of residential assets under management spread across 15 countries.

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