Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo) expects to make several real estate deals this year, many of them in the US and Europe, in order to boost returns.
A report from Bloomberg cited an interview with AIMCo's chief executive, Leo de Bever, where he said that the Edmonton, Alberta-based pension fund manager was looking to execute “half a dozen transactions” ranging anywhere from C$100 million (€72 million, $104 million) to as high as C$500 million.
“We're pretty agnostic about what we're looking at, as long as it's a good opportunity,” he told PERE in a subsequent interview.
The fund is seeking to increase returns while it reorganizes into more of a ‘commercially-based’ investment fund like Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. AIMCo was established in January 2008 to manage investments for Alberta's provincial government, public pension plans and endowments, including the C$15.5 billion Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund. It had an 8.2 percent return on investments in the year ended 31 March, generating C$5.4 billion in investment income, according to annual results released yesterday. AIMCo's assets at the end of March fell 2.7 percent from C$70.7 billion in the year-earlier period.
These transactions may be in properties outside of Canada, as AIMCo revealed in its annual report that foreign properties may rise to one-third of total real estate holdings over time. Currently, the fund's C$5.6 billion in real estate is mostly in Canada, with 3.5 percent in the UK, US and Europe.
“We're looking a little further afield for opportunities elsewhere,” de Bever added. “We've found some good partners in Germany and the UK. We will spend more money over time outside of Canada.”
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