HK-listed Value Partners launches real estate strategy

The $15.5bn listed asset management firm has established its first private equity real estate fund to invest in properties across Asia Pacific.

Value Partners, the first asset management firm to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has entered the private equity real estate space.

The firm, which has $15.5 billion in assets under management across a mixture of institutional and retail hedge fund, and exchange-traded fund products, has seeded a limited partnership structure with $100 million and is looking to raise third-party capital.

A spokesperson for the firm declined to comment on a specific fundraising target but said in an email: “We will have a better idea on the exact size when we kick off the fundraising period in the second half of 2018.”

The spokesperson added that the firm is targeting an internal rate of return in high single digits after fees and tax.

The firm will target stabilized assets in Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Korea.

“We will then take a top-down approach to have an in-depth research on which asset class should we invest,” the spokesperson told PERE. “We expect to hold the properties for a few years to enjoy the stable income growth. We will dispose the properties when the market condition is right.”

Value Partners has already made its first property acquisition using its seed capital. The firm invested ¥12,560 million ($113 million; €97 million) in two Japanese logistics properties this week. The properties are both fully-leased with a combined net lettable area of more than 645,000 square feet.

Established in 1993, Value Partners is led by chairman and co-CIO Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye, and invests on behalf of retail and institutional capital across six investment strategies, namely fixed income; multi-asset; absolute return; thematic; alternatives; and relative return.