The $32.4bn (€28.5bn) JP Morgan Strategic Property Fund (SPF) has become the first Open End Diversified Core Equity (ODCE) fund to invest directly in another commingled fund.
The largest open-ended core property fund in the US is committing capital to a fund managed by Black Creek Group, as part of a partnership announced last week.
Black Creek said it had formed a $400m partnership where institutional investors advised by JP Morgan would commit capital to various industrial real estate strategies.
But according to an investor in SPF, the fund has made a commitment to a fund managed by Black Creek. It is not clear how large the commitment is.
It is the first time that a constituent of $248bn NFI-ODCE index has invested directly in a fund run by another manager, according to multiple sources that track the index.
JP Morgan did not respond to emails seeking comment.
According to the investor in SPF, JP Morgan is under-allocated to the industrial sector. Prior to the investment with Black Creek it held 11% of its portfolio in industrial assets, below the 16.6% weighting of the NFI-ODCE index.
Building exposure to industrial markets can be a challenge for large funds when individiaul assets are often worth below $20m
JP Morgan also recently opened SPF up to foreign investors for the first time, potentially increasing capital inflows for the fund.
