Against a background of what capital raisers call a ‘difficult time’ to raise equity, Round Hill Capital has announced the final close of its fund.
Some institutional investors are homing in on certain specialist strategies, while others are contending with the denominator effect or are sitting on their hands watching how the market plays out.
But Round Hill has managed to close the book on European Residential Income Fund II (ERIF II) following a final tranche of €90 mln secured in May 2023 from a French investment fund and an Asian public pension fund.
They join nine existing institutional investors comprising a range of state pension funds, insurance companies, financial institutions and family offices.
The core/core plus investment vehicle targets multifamily opportunities in ‘strong locations’ that exhibit positive demographic trends, persisting supply and demand imbalances and strong transport links.
Some 2,050 units have been assembled for the new fund so far with significant dry powder available for more. One recent deal is the acquisition of a 324-unit BTR development in Aarhus, Denmark in February 2023. It also has assets in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Finland.
Broadly speaking, investors are still committing to “beds” strategies. Round Hill said purpose built rental housing had proven to be resilient throughout market cycles, demonstrating defensive qualities during the current uncertain and inflationary environment and against a backdrop of rising interest rates.
Michael Bickford, CEO, said: ‘In addition to the over $2 bn of commitments we have received across a number of separate account client strategies and funds over the past few years, the close to €440 mln we have raised for this latest fun is a further significant endorsement of both Round Hill Capital’s continued track record of driving client returns through the cycle, as well as the continued appeal of residential asset classes.’
