MetLife Investment Management has raised $390m (€357.7m) for its US single-family rental real estate fund.
MetLife said the MetLife Single Family Rental Fund (SFR Fund), which represents the first closed-end fund launched by its real estate equity team, secured the commitments from a global group of institutional investors.
The manager’s single-family rental strategy is focused on developing and acquiring purpose-built, single-family rentals across the 75 largest US markets.
Robert Merck, global head of real estate and agricultural finance for MetLife Investment Management, said: “We have a high level of conviction in the demand for single-family rentals and we do see this fund as a natural extension of our experience investing in other housing segments, where our perspective as a leading institutional investment manager has served clients well.”
James Ray, SFR Fund’s portfolio manager, said: “Our fund is focused on adding units to the rental stock and it will not invest in scattered products. We focus on delivering assets that are designed and built specifically for renters’ needs and preferences.”
MetLife expects the SFR Fund to add more than 2,000 homes over the life of the fund.
Ray added: “We generally prefer growth markets, but we’re primarily focused on locations that give renters access to schools, job nodes and retail. Our seven regional teams understand the nuanced differences between locations and metro areas, and our screening process is deliberately bottom-up.”
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