Investors

The flow of private real estate firms launching public debt REITs has increased again, after the New York-based firm filed an IPO for Ladder Capital Realty Finance. The vehicle will primarily originate first mortgages and target some CMBS, B-notes and mezzanine loans.

David Hodes and Doug Weill have left the investment bank's real estate placement group to create their own firm, Hodes Weill & Associates. The pair co-founded the real estate placement agent in 2000 with Bill Thompson, who remains at Credit Suisse along with other senior management.

Richard Levin, president of Yale University, said the investment model designed by David Swensen had performed ‘spectacularly well’ for the endowment despite a 30% decline in value in the last fiscal year, according to a Bloomberg report.

As events in the US draw the conduct of placement agents into the limelight, research conducted by PEI Media shows that many LPs find it hard to tell the genuine article from the so-called 'finders'.

As LPs struggle to deal with their own liquidity issues, real estate secondaries specialist Landmark Partners says many limited partners may be missing the ‘ultimate’ investment opportunity.

The Cincinnati-based real estate investment firm secured commitments from nine investors for its fourth vehicle, PERE has learnt. The firm has also bought its first asset, a 170,000-sq. ft Target-anchored centre in Phoenix.

Last week Los Angeles-based CBRE Investors held a $100 million close for its Asian fund of funds, the Asia Alpha Plus Fund. One investor swapped out of a commitment to an Asian country specific vehicle to join the fund. Here Jeremy Plummer, head of CBRE’s multi manager business, explains why.

The New York-based REIT is reportedly in market with a private equity real estate fund targeting distressed retail and office properties.

The Singapore-listed leisure investment firm and developer has held a final close on its Banyan Tree Indochina Hospitality Fund, short of its original $300m to $400m target. The vehicle's core asset will be the Laguna Hue resort development.

Prompted by the ongoing pay-to-play investigation in the US, the European trade body has created a code of conduct to prevent unethical conduct in the European placement industry. The code has the backing of the LP body, ILPA.