Standard Life Investments, one of the world’s largest asset managers and real estate investors, has launched a Canadian Real Estate Fund (CREF), raising $77 million in initial equity.
The CREF is a semi open-ended Canadian limited partnership with an English limited partnership feeder fund for non-Canadian investors. It aims to give both domestic and international institutional investors access to the Canadian real estate market. Canada has historically been difficult for overseas investors to access, according to Standard Life Investments.
The Toronto real estate team of Standard Life Investments has been providing domestic investors with access to the Canadian real estate market for more than 30 years. The company’s existing fully open-ended core fund has delivered annual returns of 9.4% since launching in 1982 and has grown to over $1.3 billion in size.
The new fund will focus on a core-plus strategy with managed liquidity and leverage, and will allow access for non-Canadian investors to a market that, according to Standard Life Investments, has strong investment potential.
“Canada, as a G8 economy, offers attractive long-term investment fundamentals, including its wealth in natural resources, historically stable banking and financial sector and an attractive demographic profile,” says Blair McCreadie, head of Canadian real estate with Standard Life Investments.
Related articles: