The PERE 50 countdown
A closer look at which managers made the cut (and how they got there)
The PERE 50 is back, and it’s a more expensive club to join than ever before.
The minimum amount of capital raising required to gain entry this year was $2.57 billion, up about 6 percent on last year and a whopping 80 percent on five years ago, when the ranking covered only 30 rather than 50 firms. At the top end of this year’s ranking is the $20 billion-plus club, with now three firms having amassed such a massive equity haul. Similarly, the number of managers that have raised more than $10 billion in the last five years has grown from four to seven.
To find out who those managers are, along with the full ranking and our methodology, click here.
Now, we continue our countdown with the managers filling out ranks 19-11…
19- Cerberus Capital Management
$4.66 billion
HQ: New York
Founded: 1992
has moved up the rankings this year
The New York-based private equity giant has moved up the ranking in 2018, raising $4.6 billion in the five-year period considered. Early last year, the firm hauled $1.8 billion for its fourth global opportunistic real estate fund, Cerberus Institutional Real Estate Partners. More than 60 investors committed to CIREP IV, helping it surpass its predecessor by around $400 million. The firm also raised $161 million for residential investments, further fortifying its position.
18- Rialto Capital Management
$4.73 billion
HQ: Miami
Founded: 2007
The largest component of Rialto Capital Management’s five-year tally came from its 2015-vintage opportunistic fund Rialto Real Estate Fund III, which raised a total of $1.89 billion in its March 2017 final close. The equity haul included $1.52 billion from a debt sleeve through which the firm will take equity-like positions by investing in subordinate tranches of CMBS bonds and structured credit, and $365 million from a property sleeve through which Rialto will directly acquire value-add and opportunistic real estate. The firm, whose chief executive is Jeff Krasnoff, also raised $140 million of co-invest capital, which was invested alongside the property sleeve of RREF III.
17- Crow Holdings Capital Partners
$4.98 billion
HQ: Dallas
Founded: 1998
Last February, Crow Holdings Capital Partners launched its seventh fund in its Crow Holdings Realty Partners series. The fund has attracted $917 million, with commitments from the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. Crow, led by chief executive Michael Levy, also brought to market Crow Holdings Self-Storage Fund in July, which has captured more than $200 million, with backing by the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System. And Crow Holdings Multi-Family Build-to-Hold Fund, rolled out in July 2016, has amassed $230 million so far.
16- CIM Group
$5.39 billion
HQ: Los Angeles
Founded: 1994
CIM Group has held a final close on just one commingled fund in the past five years: CIM Fund VIII, which captured $2.4 billion in 2015. The Los Angeles-based firm is also marketing its latest fund in the series, CIM Fund IX, which launched last August and has raised $403.8 billion. In addition, CIM has captured nearly $2.6 billion over that timeframe through 21 co-investment vehicles and discretionary separate accounts. Of that, six raised $811.55 million in the past year toward investments including the Gilman Hall site, which features the 146,000-square-foot Gilman Hall Tower and contiguous parcels in Manhattan.
15- Rockpoint Group
$5.61 billion
HQ: Boston
Founded: 2003
Rockpoint’s standing in the PERE 50 is under threat of slipping further unless it raises again soon (one of its two qualifying funds is in the last year of its inclusion.) Rockpoint Real Estate Fund IV was closed on $1.95 billion in March 2013. That leaves the Boston firm’s record haul for Fund V, which closed on $3.29 billion exactly three years later. Of course, if a similar time period between fundraises were to ensue for a Fund VI, that would mean a March 2019 closing, in time for next year’s ranking.
14- Ares Management
$5.82 billion
HQ: Los Angeles
Founded: 1998
capital for European fund
Ares Management moved up one spot, partly thanks to approximately $1.3 billion in new capital raised in the past year for its latest real estate funds, including $715 million for Ares US Real Estate Fund IX. In August, co-founder Michael Arougheti said the company planned to launch its next European property vehicle, Ares European Real Estate Fund V, by early 2018. By March, the firm had amassed $624 million in commitments for the fund, according to a filing with the SEC, and nearly halfway to its €1.25 billion target.
13- Angelo Gordon
$5.94 billion
HQ: New York
Founded: 1988
Angelo Gordon leapt eight spots this year, bolstered partly by a big new capital raise. The firm launched its new European real estate fund, AG Europe Realty II, last January and closed on $825 million in March. The vehicle is focused on the acquisition of sub-performing real estate assets in Europe. Also included in the firm’s five-year total was its debut European property fund, for which the firm closed on $570 million in March 2015, and its most recent US offering, the 2016-vintage, $1.33 billion AG Realty Fund IX.
12- CBRE Global Investors
$6.36 billion
HQ: Los Angeles
Founded: 1972
Over the past five years, CBRE Global Investors has raised three funds of at least $1 billion. In November, CBRE Strategic Partners US Value 8 garnered $1.34 billion in equity from 25 institutional investors in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The fund’s capital has been invested or committed in 17 office, multifamily, mixed-use and logistics assets, including the Concourse Creative Campus, a 751,093-square-foot office complex in Atlanta. The same month, CBRE GI also held a final close of $1 billion on CBRE Asia Value Partners IV.
11- Oaktree Capital Management
$6.43 billion
HQ: Los Angeles
Founded: 1995
While Oaktree Capital Management’s five-year equity total remained unchanged this year, it dropped out of the top 10 as some of its rivals added significant amounts of new capital. The biggest components of the total were Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VI and VII, which together account for nearly $5.6 billion. One fund to watch will be Oaktree’s new real estate income fund, launched last year. In an earnings call in January, chief executive Jay Wintrob said the vehicle will emphasize “income-oriented investment sourced across our entire real estate platform.” 
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