SWIB backs TH Real Estate regional US mall fund with $150m investment

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board is investing $150m (€133.7m) in a US shopping centre fund managed by TH Real Estate.

The US pension fund approved a commitment to the T-C US Super Regional Mall Fund, according to a board-meeting document.

This month saw TIAA Global Asset Management merge its US real estate operations with its European and Asia-Pacific subsidiary TH Real Estate. The US Super Regional Mall Fund, which was launched by TIAA, will reside on the newly expanded platform.

SWIB’s investment represents 12% of the fund’s $1.25bn capital raise, concluded last month.

The pension fund, underweight regional malls, said in an email that the manager had “unique experience as both an equity and debt investor in the regional mall sector over the past 60 years, with good access to attractive investment opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable”.

Domestic and foreign institutional investors backed the fund, along with the TIAA General Account.

Total capitalisation of the fund should be around $2.5bn, targeting partial interests or 100% interests in major US regional malls.

The fund holds one asset, the Ala Moana Center in Hawaii, it which it holds a 12.5% stake.

SWIB has also made a $139m allocation to the Lone Star Real Estate Fund V as an opportunistic investment.

It has five other potential real estate commitments worth $558m in its investment pipeline, under review by its real estate investment staff.

One of the commitments is a $100m core separate account investment in a variety of property types.

Two joint ventures, one for core apartments at $58m and one for value industrial assets at $90m, are also being considered, as well as two separate accounts, with $165m for value-add hotels and $145m for value-add medical office buildings.